The Everlasting Flower
by MintLeafeon
Summary: When a new girl shows up at Rikkaidai, what will happen? Why did all these things happen after she appeared? Who is the girl? What does she have to do with everything that happened? OOC No yaoi pairings. OC included
1. Prologue

The Everlasting Flower

Prologue

"Who? Who are you?" a man yelled at the girl standing in front of him.

The girl had a police badge out in her hand with her swords in the other. She was wearing a red cheongsam with pink roses, blue lilies, and purple flowers. He could see a star-shaped birthmark on her neck right below her right ear. She had pure white hair down to her knees and had golden-colored eyes. She had two different earrings; a red sun on her left ear and a yellow crescent on her right. She had a gold ribbon tied around her neck that made it down to the ground which was a total of five feet.

The man was horrified that he could be captured so easily by this girl when other police officers have spent months or even years to capture him. He listened intently to her answer before he was cuffed and dragged away for a trial.

The girl said, "People around these parts know me as the 'Everlasting Flower.' No one knows my true name besides my fellow officers, and I intend to keep it that way. Now then, I hope you have a pleasant trial and that they will go easy on you," the girl now known as Everlasting Flower finished with a sly smile.

"Great work EF. You are by far one of the most impressive officers we have here in America," a random police officer said.

"Thank you for the compliment," Everlasting said.

"Oh yes, the boss said he wanted to talk to you after this mission," the officer said. He left with the criminal as soon as the girl nodded.

After the officer left, Everlasting pulled out her phone and called the personal number of her boss. She waited for a few seconds before the phone clicked and a male voice said, "How did the mission go?"

"It went well Spade-sama. You wanted to talk to me?" Everlasting asked as she walked to her home.

The phone clicked off and in the doorway stood a man, about 40 years old, putting away his phone. She walked up to the man and bowed in respect.

"Now Everlasting. I've told you to call me otou-san when we are alone. After all you are my daughter," the man, known as Spade, said hugging her.

"Arigato otou-san. You wanted to speak to me about something?" the girl said hugging her father back.

"Yes. Your mother in Japan has mentioned something about a few criminals targeting some of the tennis regulars of this one school. We were planning to send you to that school to act as a bodyguard. You'll have to wear a disguise so that you won't be recognized as the best and youngest police officer in the world. You will stay with your mother Dia. You will also be joining the school's male tennis team."

"Seriously? I didn't know girls could play with the boys in tennis teams in Japan."

"Apparently they had this inter-gender rule, but it didn't work out. When they heard about you however, they immediately agreed to have you on the team."

"I see. Arigato otou-san. I'll miss you when I'm in Japan then."

"You will be leaving next week. The other officer officials know of your situation and will explain everything to the lower officers. I love you, Rose."

"Love you too otou-san."


	2. Petal 1: Meet Rose Ryu

Petal 1: Meet Rose Ryu

"Hoi! Minna! Have you heard about the new student we are going to get today?" Marui yelled out happily.

"New student?" Yukimura questioned.

"Apparently the student is a freshman," Yanagi stated.

"Ehh! A freshman in a seniors' class! How does that work?" Niou asked suddenly interested.

"The student is a female freshman and has advanced two years in all of her classes. She will probably graduate early at this rate. I don't have any other information on the girl. Apparently I couldn't find anything else about her surprisingly," Yanagi replied.

"That is surprising," Sanada said. "Usually you can get any information you want on people coming into this school so not finding information on one student in surprising."

"We'll find out more information as we get to know her. I have a feeling she is outside the door waiting to be introduced," Yukimura said smiling with his eyes locked on the door.

Pretty soon the teacher came in with a smile on his face. He stood at the front and then announced, "Today, we will have a new student in our class. She has advanced two years in her classes so please go easy on her. You can come in now," he called out to the door.

The door slowly opened and all the third years learned in their seats trying to get a look at the new kid. What they saw surprised them. They saw a girl with black hair that went all the way to her knees. She had cerulean blue eyes and a cute face that could be that of a dolls'. She had a red sun earring on her left ear and a yellow crescent on her right.

"Please introduce yourself to the class," the teacher said to the new student.

"Yoroshiku. I am Rose, Ryu Rose. I'm not very sociable so please don't try to get close to me. You might regret it later," Rose finished off with a glare.

The entire class gulped as soon as she made eye contact with them. Even the teacher gulped in fear as he said, "Is there anyone who would like to ask Ryu-san a question?"

"One, don't call me Ryu-san. It makes me feel old. Call me Rose-chan please," Rose said before anyone even raised their hands.

Everyone slowly nodded in agreement before the hands started shooting up in the air for questions.

"What are your favorite hobbies?" a random girl asked.

"I guess playing sports would be my hobby along with other things," Rose answered.

"What sport do you play?" a random boy asked.

"Tennis," she replied.

"Are you any good?" Niou asked.

"I don't know. You'll have to see to find out," she replied with a blank expression on her face.

"Demo, the boy's and girl's team are separate. That means we won't see you at all," Marui whined.

"On the contrary," Rose responded.

"Hah?" Marui said.

"My family has gotten the school and tennis association to let me join this school's male tennis team," she replied with a smile on her face.

"Souka," Yukimura said. "Seems we will be seeing a lot of each other," he finished with a smile, which was too sweet to be true, aimed at the girl.

Everyone shuddered as they saw Yukimura's smile. The girl however, didn't flinch whatsoever which was surprising to the class. The boy's smile could make anyone run away and yet this girl was able to stare right at him without moving an inch.

The teacher decided to break the glaring contest by saying, "Rose-chan, you will be seating next to Marui. Marui, can you please raise your hand?"

Marui raised his hand in excitement and watched as the girl bowed to the teacher and made her way to him. The others were surprised at her. They didn't smell any perfume, she wasn't wearing any make-up, and she was just being her natural-self which was surprising for most girls of their school. The girl didn't even go into fan-girl mode when she saw the tennis regulars. Anyone who was coming to this school died to see the tennis regulars while this girl just brushed them off.

Yukimura was certainly surprised that the girl didn't even flinch when he smiled at her. He would've thought for sure that she would have run off, but she didn't. He decided that this girl was interesting and that he would find out more about her later in the day.

After class ended, the class was certainly in shock. Why? Because Rose had actually answered any question that no one else could answer. She could even answer the questions that Yanagi had some trouble with.

The tennis regulars saw her leave the room and immediately followed her planning to introduce them to the tennis regulars right away. They saw her walking to the tennis courts and saw a fuming Kirihara waiting for them.

As soon as Kirihara saw who he was looking for he immediately yelled, "You!"

The girl looked at him and asked, "What about me?"

Kirihara walked, more like stomped, over to Rose and yelled, "People call you the young genius of her class. I'll have you know that I am the youngest prodigy at this school you got that?"

"Hai, hai, senpai." Rose answered bluntly and bored.

"Are you trying to mock me?"

"No, but are you implying that I don't have the skills to match my title?"

"Yes!" Kirihara yelled. When it came to being the youngest prodigy of Rikkaidai, he didn't want to give anyone else that title. He wanted to make sure that the girl was worth it to even be in the male tennis club.

"Akaya, stop this at once," Yukimura said trying to get Kirihara to calm down.

"Demo, buchou. How do we even know that this girl is good enough to be in the team?" Kirihara said knowing he would get what he wanted. "Let me play a match against her. If she can even gain five games against me, I'll accept her into the club and stop bugging her about it."

"Seems like a good deal Yukimura," Sanada stated, "This way we can see whether the girl is truly as good as the rumors say."

"Alright," Yukimura said before sighing. "Do you mind playing a match against Akaya?" Yukimura asked Rose.

Rose shrugged before saying, "I'll need a racket. I left mine at home today hoping to just watch your practice before I join in tomorrow."

"We can lend you one of ours," Kirihara said obviously excited about playing the girl.

Niou came out a few minutes later carrying a spare racket for Rose to use for her match.

"This is going to be really exciting neh?" Marui said popping his favorite gum.

"You bet," Niou answered. "Can't wait to see how that girl plays."


	3. Petal 2: Flower vs Devil

Petal 2: Flower vs. Devil

"You ready to lose girl?" Kirihara asked as he shook Rose's hand above the net.

"No, but I hope you are," she bluntly replied with a bored expression.

"Why I ought to-"

"Akaya!" Yukimura shouted. "This is just an acceptance match that you asked for. Please act mature about it."

"Hai buchou," Kirihara answered before going to his side.

Sanada was the ref for the match and he called, "Kirihara Akaya versus Ryu Rose. 1 set match. Kirihara to serve."

"Get ready to lose girl," Kirihara stated as he curled his fingers around the ball and served it.

"A 'Knuckle Serve' right from the start! Is that boy crazy! Is he trying to kill her?" tennis members shouted as they watched the match.

Everyone was confused and worried for the girl's safety. They didn't expect her to return the ball right into the corner of Kirihara's side of the court.

Kirihara looked at the mark the ball made when it hit his side of the court and was shocked. He thought it had to be a fluke at first so he served his 'Knuckle Serve' one more time just to have it returned again at a speed he couldn't even see.

Soon Rose won the game with return aces and it was her turn to serve. He got into a strange position where her legs were together and was standing straight. She threw the ball up high into the air that it turned into a small marble in someone's view. She drew her leg up so when the ball reached the peak of its throw, her legs were in the form of a split. When she served, she threw her leg in the direction of her arm and served the ball into Kirihara's side of the court. Kirihara expected the ball to bounce straight up and didn't expect the ball to circle in smaller circles until it reached its' 'center' and bounced right at the base line.

Kirihara was shocked once again along with the spectators and wanted to know what was that move. The answer they got was the name 'Water Lily.'

After about a half hour, the score was three games all. Kirihara was panting and exhausted while Rose didn't even break a sweat yet. Rose returned Kirihara's serve once again aiming right behind his feet which caused him to fall flat on his face trying to return it.

As soon as Kirihara fell onto his face, the spectators' all widened their eyes in fear of what would happen next. Their fear came to reality when they saw Kirihara stand up with his eyes being bloodshot red now. He had gone into 'devil mode' during this match and that scared everyone. They all worried for the girl's well-being and told her to stop the match in fear of her being hurt but were ignored as she kept playing.

Kirihara's shots were much stronger and faster in 'devil mode' than in his normal state. He served and returned all of her shots and aimed at her knees sometimes.

Everyone flinched when they saw Kirihara hit Rose's knee over and over again. To their surprise, the girl didn't even flinch or fall because of the pain but kept playing.

They played further and further until the match was six games all. Kirihara was still in 'devil mode' and couldn't stop.

The match ended a few minutes later as a tie when Rose collapsed on the ground from her knees being hit so many times. Everyone could see the strain she felt from her eyes.

After Rose fell onto the ground, Kirihara turned back to his normal state and saw the damage he had done. He widened his eyes and then jumped over to the net and right over to Rose apologizing so many times, the regulars couldn't count them all.

He would have kept apologizing as well if Rose didn't stop him by putting her hand over his mouth. He was surprised and so were the rest when they heard her answer.

"I forgive you Kirihara-senpai. You didn't mean it. I've heard the rumors about you in your 'devil mode' and kind of wanted to see it for myself. Didn't know that this would happen however," Rose said looking at Kirihara with a thoughtful look.

"Demo…doesn't it hurt? Aren't you mad at me for what I did to you?" Kirihara asked with a sad look on his face.

Rose looked at him and instantly felt sympathetic. Her guesses were right that he wasn't able to control his 'devil' side yet and that he needed more training to control it. She didn't expect him to be bawling and sobbing right now though, so she did the only thing she thought of. She turned him towards her and then hugged him around the waist.

The regulars were certainly surprised by her actions. The girl had just gotten injured by Kirihara, yet she was hugging him. Kirihara looked at her with surprised eyes and slowly hugged her as well still crying a bit.

"Daijoubu Kirihara-senpai. I'm fine see? You don't need to worry about me. I'm used to being injured," Rose said while rubbing Kirihara's back trying to calm him down.

Kirihara stopped crying and shaking and pulled away from Rose slowly while he said, "You're used to being injured?"

"What? Did I say that?" Rose said instantly widening her eyes. '_Why the hell did I just say that.'_

"Yes you did," Kirihara said looking at her with a worried look.

"I've gotten injured before from previous tennis matches in America. Let's just say that some guys are sore losers," Rose said scratching the back of her head. She looked down at her wrist and realized that she was late to meet her mother. "Oh shoot! I'm late!" Rose tried to stand up only to stumble and fall. Luckily, before she hit the ground, both Yukimura and Kirihara grabbed her arms and steadied her. "Arigato, but I really have to go!"

"Wait a minute!" Kirihara yelled.

"Nani?" Rose asked stopping in her tracks.

"I'll take you home. It's the least I can do for doing that to you," Kirihara said pointing at Rose's bleeding knee.

"It's fine. I don't want to trouble you," Rose said trying to walk to the school entrance only to be stopped by Yukimura putting a hand on her shoulder.

"We'll all take you home. Right minna?" Yukimura said.

Everyone nodded their heads, and Rose had no choice but to accept. She said, "Fine you can come to my house. I wonder though…would you like to stay over for dinner and spend the night?"

The regulars were surprised but hesitantly nodded.

"Alright then, call your families and tell them you'll be staying at my house for tonight. I'm sure my mother won't mind me bringing friends. The last time I ever brought friends over was six years ago, so I'm sure she'll be excited," Rose said with a smile on her face as Yukimura helped walk her over to the school entrance where a limo waited.


	4. Petal 3: Her Smile?

Petal 3: Her Smile?

"This is your house!" Marui yelled at he pointed at the white mansion he was standing in front of. He was already surprised along with the other regulars when a limo came to pick them all up.

"What's the big deal about it? This one is the smallest one I've lived in," Rose said while walking up to the front gate.

Kirihara was planning to run into the house but couldn't because Rose pulled him by his collar to where she was. He yelled, "What the heck is your problem?"

"Sheesh, why are you yelling at me? Can't you see the security laser right there," Rose yelled as she pointed to a thin red line in front of them.

Kirihara gulped and then replied, "Gomen. I didn't know about that."

Rose sighed and then responded saying, "Its fine. Not many people come to this house often. Just let me go turn off the security system by getting to the door." Rose picked up some sand next to the gate and threw it over the walkway to the front door.

After a few seconds, the regulars could see all of the lasers from the gate to the door and widened their eyes at how many they saw. They couldn't even count how many they could see, and she was supposed to somehow get through them all to the front door.

"This is going to be fun. Haven't been through a security check in a while. Guess I forgot to tell my mom that I was going to come home at this time," she said while putting her bag down. She then went into a track-runner's stance and then jumped right into the beams. She was gracefully jumping over and diving under any beams that were in her way. She looked like she was dancing the way she was moving to avoid the security lasers.

The regulars couldn't keep their eyes off her and saw that she had reached the front door. They saw the lasers turn off and then heard her say, "Coast is clear guys. Can you bring my bag over here as well?"

The regulars nodded and then picked up Rose's bag…or at least tried to. The bag was so heavy that when Marui tried to pick it up, he stumbled and fell over it onto the pavement. The regulars each tried to pick up the bag and got the same result. It took three regulars to actually lift the thing, and they were surprised that the girl could lift that bag with no problem.

"Sorry about that. I forgot to mention how heavy it is. If you hurt anything trying to lift that, say something right now," Rose said with a thoughtful look on her face.

The three regulars, namely Kirihara, Marui and Niou, mentioned how their arms hurt a bit from lifting that thing and saw Rose immediately take the bag from them to avoid straining them anymore.

"No wonder you are so strong. What do you carry in that bag?" Yagyuu asked.

"Weights for training, textbooks for school, and the usual school stuff," Rose replied while leading them into the mansion. She then yelled, "Okaa-san! Tadaima!"

All of a sudden a woman burst from upstairs and flew over to Rose yelling, "Okaeri! Rose-chan! Ara? Are these your new tennis friends?"

"Hai okaa-san. These are my senpai-tachi from the tennis club," Rose said. "This is Yukimura-buchou, Sanada senpai, Kirihara-senpai, Niou-senpai, Marui-senpai, Yagyuu-senpai, Yanagi-senpai, and Jackal-senpai," she said while pointing to each one respectively.

The regulars all said, "It's nice to meet you."

"Ara. Such polite boys. I'm Dia Ryu, Rose-chan's mother. Have your eyes on any one of them Ro-chan?" Dia said while nudging Rose in her arm.

The regulars saw Rose immediately blush and yell, "Okaa-san! That's in no way polite to talk in front of guests." They all snickered at her mother's childish. It was definitely like mother and child except the roles were reversed.

"Oh yeah, your father called asking to check up on you. I already gave him the update, and he seemed pretty happy that you were bringing friends over," Dia said with a smile on her face. "Can you get the rooms ready for your guests Rose? I want to talk to the boys for a minute."

Rose nodded and then went up the stairs to get the guest rooms ready while Dia took the regulars to the main living room to talk.

"What did you want to talk to us about Ryu-san?" Yukimura asked politely.

"Oh please, call me Dia-chan. Ryu-san makes me feel old," Dia said with a smile.

"That's the same thing Rose-chan said when we first saw her in class," Niou remarked.

"Ok I'll tell you what I wanted to talk to you about," Dia started her face turning serious.

The regulars saw the change in her face and listened intently.

"You see…Rose was never raised as a normal girl. She's got quite a…colorful…past and no one should know about it. She's never once smiled in her life. She always wears such a bored expression. The reason I'm telling you this is because I think you can change her. I want to see her smile, a true smile. All the times she's smiled in the past have been entirely fake. No matter what we do, we can't get her to smile for real. I, the workers, and her father were hoping that you could break her icy shell and get her to finally smile for real."

The regulars widened their eyes. They couldn't believe that the girl had never truly smiled before in her life. They instantly nodded and said, "We would love trying to get your daughter to smile Dia-chan. She is the newest member of the Rikkaidai male tennis club. We think she is good enough to be a regular if she will accept."

"I'm sure she will. She's always loved tennis. It's the only time her face shows any actual emotion besides being bored."

"Souka. I guess we could-"

"Okaa-san the guest rooms are ready!" Rose yelled from atop the stairs. "Come on senpai! I want to show you to your rooms before you get lost in this house!"

The regulars nodded and quickly bowed to Dia before going up to meet Rose.

When the regulars were introduced to their rooms they were surprised. The rooms were each of their favorite colors. The furniture was also the way that the regulars would have arranged them as well.

"How did you set up the rooms the way we always liked our own rooms?" Kirihara asked.

"I don't know. I just thought that it was what you might like. We have different colored rooms for different guests, and I was glad that we had your favorite colors for guest rooms," Rose said smiling at them.

The regulars now knew what Dia was talking about. They saw that the smile was more like forced onto her face than being natural. They could still see the sadness in her eyes and something else they couldn't quite name.


	5. Petal 4: Everlasting Flower's True Self

Petal 4: Everlasting Flower's True Self

"Mattaku. Everyone is always going on about my business. Why don't they get a clue that they shouldn't get close to me," Rose said while she lay on her bed thinking about the last week.

During the week since the regulars first visited her house, she had made it as a regular. The other regulars tried to take her out after practice to different shops. She saw that they were trying to get to be close to her, and she didn't want that. She saw the looks that the team gave her when they saw the scars on her arms and legs during practice one time. She wanted them to leave her alone because her job was too dangerous for them to get involved in.

Suddenly Rose's cell phone went off. When she looked at the caller id., she said, "Well speak of the devil." She answered the phone and said, "What's up? You got a job for me to do?"

"You bet I do," the voice on the other side of the phone said.

"What is it? Is it dangerous? Because my teammates are starting to worry how I got the scars on my body from previous years," she said with a smirk on her face.

"Rose, Rose, Rose. Have you ever had a job where it wasn't dangerous?"

"No, I haven't. What is the job this time?"

"Criminal robbed a bank the 10th time this month and hasn't been caught once. He's planning another robbery tonight and-"

"-you want me to take him out. Is that right?"

"Correct. Make sure you are in your true form when you make the arrest so that no one can make the connection."

"Right. See you at the bank then." Rose turned off her cell phone so that no one would be able to call her for tonight and then went to the closet. She pulled out a red cheongsam with pink roses, blue lilies, and purple flowers and put it on. She tied a gold ribbon onto her neck and pulled it out to reach the ground. She took off her blue contacts to reveal golden eyes. She tore off her black wig to reveal her pure white hair and removed the make-up on her neck to reveal her star birthmark. "Looks like it's time for the 'Everlasting Flower' to make her debut in Japan huh?" With that she grabbed her two dual swords, one red, and the other icy blue and made her way out of the house. "Ja okaa-san. I have another mission."

"Be careful Rose. Or should I say 'Everlasting Flower'," Dia said with a wink.

"Hai…Okaa-san," Rose replied as she left the house in a sprint and towards the bank where the robbery was said to happen.

* * *

The regulars were all in the club room discussing how to get Rose to smile when Marui burst in saying, "Turn on the television! Something interesting is going on at the city bank!"

Sanada turned on the T.V. and saw what Marui said was exciting. They saw a girl fighting a criminal in front of a bank. They saw her dodging bullets and deflecting them with her swords. After a few minutes of fighting the girl had her two swords in front of the man's neck and heard her say, "It's over."

They saw the police cuff the man and push him into the car to be sent to jail and saw some praising the girl.

They also saw some reporters going over to the girl asking questions left and right.

One reporter asked, "Who are you?"

"I am known as the 'Everlasting Flower' in the world. I am the youngest police officer and the best if the others have anything to say about it. And no, I am not going to answer any more questions. Ja," Rose said while winking at the camera and blowing a kiss at whoever was watching.

"That girl is amazing," Kirihara said.

"Aa. She is amazing," Marui agreed.

"Think we will ever meet her?" Niou asked.

"Not unless we want to be sent to jail or to the hospital considering that fight," Yanagi stated.

"But I wonder…who is she?" Yukimura said which caused the other regulars to also think about who the girl might be.

* * *

"Achoo!" Rose sneezed as she made it back into her home.

"Seems like someone is talking about you Ro," Dia said carrying a first-aid kit.

"What do you think the others will say once they see this gun wound on my shoulder?" Rose asked while pulled her shirt to one side to reveal that there was indeed a gun hole in her shoulder.

"I don't know. You already got the bullet out right?" Dia asked about to wrap Rose's shoulder in bandages.

"Yes I removed the bullet. Hurry up please. I want to change back into my pajamas before I go to bed so that I won't be stuck wearing this all night," Rose said impatiently.

"Hai. Of course my little darling," Dia said while wrapping up Rose's shoulder.

After Dia was done, Rose went up to her room to change out of her cheongsam and put away her swords. She went into the shower to wash off any excess blood and then came out five minutes later in a baby blue nightgown that made it to her ankles. She went to the mirror to apply the make-up over her star birthmark and also fix her wig back. She put on her blue contacts again to hide her golden-colored eyes and then brushed her wig into place. Then she slowly untied the gold ribbon around her neck and placed it next to her cheongsam and weapons inside the closet. She checked her wound again and made sure that it wouldn't be seen so easily during practice the next day.

"This is **so** going to be sore tomorrow," Rose whined. She went over to her bed and flopped down. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.


	6. Petal 5: Teammates Obviously Care

Petal 5: Teammates Obviously Care

"Ohayou minna," Rose said bored as she walked onto the tennis courts.

"Ohayou Rose-chan," the regulars replied.

"Neh Rose-chan?" Marui asked.

"Nani?" she replied.

"Have you heard about a girl named 'Everlasting Flower'?" Niou asked.

"I've heard of her. She was on the news yesterday wasn't she? She sent another criminal to jail," Rose replied.

"Wait another?" Kirihara remarked.

"I did my research on the little police officer. Seems that she catches at least five criminals per month. Her biggest record was when she caught over 100 criminals in one year. That beats all of the police officers records when they can only arrest 100 criminals in five years or more," Rose replied. She was thinking, _'I guess my record does surpass everyone else, but I hate bragging. I should stop talking about myself or they are going to ask more questions.'_ "Why did you ask whether I have heard of her?"

"Why?" Kirihara started, "because she is cool! Did you see the way she fights? Her moves are so graceful, and she looks like she's dancing while fighting. She can even fight with two swords in a cheongsam. A cheongsam! There is no way a normal person could fight in one of those like that!"

"Who said she was normal Akaya?" Yukimura said surprising the hell out of everyone.

"Ah! Don't scare us like that Yukimura-buchou," Marui said while sighing.

Rose's face was as bored as ever.

Yukimura was disappointed and the other regulars knew it. They all knew that the only reason Yukimura tried to scare them was because he wanted to get some emotion out of Rose other than boredom. They have already seen her cocky attitude when she faced Akaya and her arrogant attitude when they took her shopping one time. They were glad that she wasn't like any of those girls that would spend all of your money in one trip. All she bought was grip tape for her racket as well as some tennis ball stickers so that she could differentiate her personal ones from the clubs'. For some reason she would always bring her own personal tennis balls to use instead of using the clubs.

Marui glomped Rose and said, "Come on, weren't you scared when buchou did that?"

"Not really," Rose said while trying to get Marui off her. He just had to glomp her on the shoulder where the gun injury was. It was hurting like hell, but she had learned a long time ago how to control her emotions not to show during anything which would probably explain her bored expression all the time.

When Marui didn't let go, Niou joined in on the glomp-fest and glomped her other shoulder causing the weight on her shoulders to be even greater.

Rose was starting to feel even more pain and wanted the two off her as soon as possible. She finally had enough and yelled, "Get off of me!" while practically shoving the two off her and running to the clubroom.

Niou and Marui were certainly surprised along with the other regulars. Rose had never yelled at her before, and they were surprised that she had just yelled at them right now.

"Akaya, can you go check up on her? We want to know what's wrong and since you are the closest to her, we thought maybe it would be better if you checked on her," Yukimura said.

Kirihara nodded before rushing off towards the clubroom. It was true that Kirihara and Rose were closer than the other regulars were to her. Ever since that first match between the two where Kirihara nearly ruined Rose's legs, they had been working and training together trying to seal his 'devil' side. They had a lot of progress throughout the week they had trained, and he didn't even go into 'devil mode' even if he hit the ground. Yukimura was certainly pleased and had the two constantly train together. Out of all the relationships, his and Rose were the closest between her and the other regulars.

He got to the clubroom and slowly opened the door. As soon as he saw Rose he screamed.

The other regulars heard Kirihara scream and immediately ran over to the clubroom and heard Kirihara scream, "Rose! What happened to your shoulder?"

The regulars immediately pushed the door open more to see what Kirihara was talking about and froze at the sight.

Apparently when Rose ran into the clubroom, the gun wound was starting to bleed again, so she took off the bandages to replace them when Kirihara walked in on her changing the bandages with her shirt tilted over to reveal the shoulder.

"What…what happened Rose?" Kirihara asked.

"Nothing happened. Nothing that you should know about anyway," Rose answered trying to rewrap her bandages around her shoulder. She was stopped by Sanada who grabbed the bandages and helped her rewrap them around her shoulder.

"What do you mean 'nothing that we should know about' Rose? We are your teammates and should know what happened," Yukimura said trying to reason with Rose.

"Fine," Rose started, "you know that event about 'Everlasting Flower' yesterday?"

The regulars nodded about it and waited for her to continue.

"I was running around training when I suddenly heard gunshots. I went over to the bank to see 'Everlasting Flower.' I kept hidden to keep out of the way, but it didn't help much when 'Everlasting Flower' accidently deflected a bullet into my shoulder. I ran out of there as quickly as I could to get the bullet out at home. Luckily my mom is good with medical types of things," Rose finished with a bored look on her face once again.

"Souka…you should be less careless next time. What were you thinking going to a place where you could hear gunshots anyway?" Yanagi asked.

"I was just curious I guess," Rose answered and nodding to Sanada as thanks for rewrapping her wound.

"Just be careful next time alright. We don't need any more injuries before out match next week. When do you think that shoulder will heal?" Sanada asked.

"About three days. The bullet didn't go in as deep as I thought it would so it should only take a few days," Rose said standing up and walking out of the clubroom with her racket in her hands, two tennis balls in her pockets, and the regulars following her out.

"Can't wait for the world to know about our female player," Marui said popping his gum.


	7. Petal 6: Sound Training

Petal 6: Sound Training

"Rose, we need to talk," Sanada said.

"What is it Sanada-senpai?" Rose said looking at him with a bored expression yet again.

Sanada was used to seeing Rose's bored expression so many times and quickly shook off his hope of seeing her with a different expression. "You need to work on your hearing. Your sight far surpasses many of us but your hearing is average."

"So I need sound training?" Rose questioned.

"Yes. In fact, you do need sound training," Sanada replied surprised that Rose anticipated that she needed sound training.

"I knew it. My hearing has always been weaker than my sight. I was planning a day to train on that but didn't know when to start," Rose said tapping her racket on her left shoulder which had finished healing from the gun injury two days prior.

"I'm surprised that your injury healed so fast. I figured it would take four days when it only took two."

"My body is weird like that. It can heal an injury in half the time it usually takes someone else to heal."

"Souka. That's good to hear. We won't have to worry so much about you being alright when you have small injuries then."

"That's good because when you do worry, you all look like nannies," Rose said with a smirk.

The regulars all heard her comment and twitched and yelled, "We do not!"

Sanada massaged the bridge of his nose while trying to calm down and not yell at the team.

"Well then, why don't we get started with the sound training, Sanada senpai?" Rose asked looking up at Sanada seeing him nod.

She already knew the general idea of sound training. She was blindfolded and stood in front of five platforms with numbers and memorized their places. Sanada kept hitting balls to each of the numbered plates in a random order getting Rose to predict where he hit it based on sound alone. She got her guessing perfect after an hour of practice.

Yukimura decided that for her last hour of practice for the day, they should work on her having a match blindfolded.

The other regulars resented the idea saying how she might get hurt if she can't see the ball coming her way.

"Then why don't we play doubles then?" Yukimura suggested.

The regulars were surprised.

"Are you sure about that buchou?" Marui asked. "We haven't even seen her play doubles with anyone yet. It might turn out really bad if she can't see."

"Nope. She will play doubles blindfolded," Yukimura insisted.

They all gave up trying to convince their captain otherwise. Once the captain set his mind on something there was nothing you could do to stop it.

"So who will she play with?" Yagyuu questioned.

"Saa…I don't know," Yukimura replied.

The regulars sweat-dropped while the non-regulars fell anime-style at their captain's answer.

"I'll be her doubles partner," someone said.

The regulars all turned to Kirihara who had his hand raised like he was going to ask a question.

"What did you say Akaya?" Yukimura asked.

"I said, 'I'll be her doubles partner'. You have to admit, out of all our relationships with her, mine is the closest with her," Kirihara said while looking at Rose.

"That is true. We could also see Kirihara's doubles playing ability if we let him do this," Yanagi stated.

"Then it is settled. Kirihara will be Rose's doubles partner," Sanada said once he got over his headache from earlier.

"Rose!" Kirihara yelled to his new partner.

Rose turned to Kirihara who was practically screaming her name. She rolled her eyes but felt kind of amused. She put on another face of her being thoughtful when she asked, "What is it Akaya?"

"I'm going to be your doubles partner for the sound training match!" Kirihara yelled.

Now Rose was just shocked. She liked to play doubles occasionally with people that were close to her but didn't expect this to happen. "Um…ok then," she said with a bored expression.

"I knew that you wouldn't react that much when you heard. Oh well," Kirihara said while shrugging his shoulders with a smile on his face.

On the contrary however, Rose was doing more than just reacting in her mind. She was screaming how she could finally depend on someone outside of her dangerous life. She just couldn't show it, or she could put all of her teammates, more like friends, in danger with her life as the famous 'Everlasting Flower.'


	8. Petal 7: Prodigy Pair's Birth

Petal 7: Prodigy Pair's Birth

"Let's go then Akaya," Rose said while putting on her blindfold.

"When did you start calling me Akaya Rose?" Kirihara questioned as he led Rose to the back to the courts

"Since I felt like calling you that. Your relationship with me is closer than the other regulars and since you're my partner, I thought I should call you by your first name since you call me by mine," Rose said after figuring out where exactly in the court she was. She memorized the length and steps needed to take from each side of the court earlier and had Kirihara lead her starting at the corner of the court.

"Souka. It seems good to know that you will call me Akaya when you call the others by their last name," Kirihara said scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Do you think you will be ok during this match?"

"I think I'll be fine but I'm not sure. After all, I do rely on my sight more than my sense of hearing. If I happen to get in the way of a ball I can't return…can you help me?" Rose said with a worried look on her face.

Kirihara could tell that she was truly worried. He knew that she didn't want to get hurt and worry them even more. He then smiled at her and said, "Sure. I'll help you out. After all you are my partner now," Kirihara finished patting his hand on Rose's right shoulder.

"You do realize that my left shoulder is completely healed. You don't need to worry about it anymore now. Thanks for worrying about it though and being considerate," Rose said and looking at where she could hear Kirihara's voice.

Kirihara blushed right then and there because of her compliment. He never thought of himself as considerate and never was considerate to begin with. This girl got him to have some compassion for others and was incredibly glad about it. "No problem. After all I think of you like a big sister. I look up to you and admire you."

"Hmm. I never had a little brother before. Maybe this could work. You are the little brother, and I'm the older sister. I like the idea. I like it a lot," Rose said and walked over to Kirihara and hugging him.

Yukimura and the other regulars widened their eyes in surprise at what they were seeing. They saw Rose hugging Kirihara again after just one talk. He must have done something to make her happy because they could tell with the look on her face that she was truly showing her thoughtfulness.

They were more surprised when Kirihara hugged her back and smiled at her.

Yukimura didn't want to ruin the moment, but he had to, so he yelled, "Come on you two, you can hug later. We need to train right now!"

The two immediately pulled away from each other and went to their designated spots for the game they were going to play.

Kirihara thought _'I am definitely going to protect you if you ever are in danger when playing doubles with me.'_

Rose said, "Let's try our best Akaya."

"Hai Rose!" Kirihara said with a grin on his face.

Kirihara and Rose were playing against Marui and Jackal. The game started with Marui's serve. As soon as Marui served, Rose could hear the ball and went over to receive it.

Kirihara watched as Rose effortlessly returned the ball like she could see it. He was surprised but was shaken out of it when he heard Rose yell, "Get out of the way Akaya!" He didn't notice that Jackal had hit it towards him until he saw it hurtling towards him.

The regulars were worried for their baby boy and didn't know what to do.

Rose had heard the ball being returned by Jackal straight towards Kirihara. When she didn't hear him move him feet to return it she yelled out a warning. When he was still frozen to the spot, Rose ran over to the ball and returned it over the net. But…when she returned it she stumbled because she had to return the ball when it was a foot in front of Kirihara's face, so she had to bend her body and racket to match it in order to get the ball over the net and avoid hitting Kirihara in the face.

The regulars watched as Rose stumbled over and fell to the ground…almost.

Kirihara had snapped out of his shock and reacted fast enough to catch Rose by her shoulders before she hit the ground.

The regulars all sighed in relief and looked at the two.

Kirihara and Rose were talking by the looks of it.

"Arigato Akaya. You really are protecting me like you said," Rose said with a smirk.

"Of course. I keep true to my word Rose," Kirihara said while picking Rose up and steadying her onto her feet.

"Arigato Akaya. You really do act like a brother," Rose said.

Kirihara led Ryoma back to the corner again and then led her to the back position.

The game continued and everyone could see the pair's potential. Their relationship was so close that they could significantly help each other in the toughest of situations.

Marui and Jackal decided to hit a ball that would be out to see if Rose could still hear it well enough. When they hit it, they saw Kirihara move for it since he was the closest to it.

"Akaya! Don't hit that!" Rose yelled.

Kirihara didn't argue with her and let the ball fly past him. He saw it go out by a few inches and widened his eyes in surprise.

All the regulars were surprised. Both by Rose being able to tell the ball was out and by Kirihara listening to Rose's order without questioning it.

"Sugoi Rose! You could tell when it was out!" Kirihara yelled at his partner.

Rose scratched the back of her head and said, "Well that was surprising. I didn't think my hearing would improve this much during one day."

"That was awesome Rose!" Kirihara kept yelling.

"Alright that's enough yelling Kirihara. Get back to the match," Sanada ordered. He also felt proud of both Rose and Kirihara along with the other regulars.

The two immediately went back to their places. The captain decided to change up the rest of the match by making Rose serve the next points. Everyone was surprised by the order but didn't question it.

"Are you sure you can do this Rose?" Kirihara asked pulling Rose's hand out to place a tennis ball in her hand for her serve.

"What's the worst that could happen besides me not hitting it?" Rose replied back and took back her arm once she felt him place the tennis ball in her hand.

Rose decided to serve as soon as she heard Kirihara get into his position. She used a different serve that the regulars hadn't seen yet. She stood with her legs a foot apart and when she threw the ball, she arched her back so far she looked like she was going to fall over. When the ball got within hitting range she sprung back up and hit the ball into the other side of the court. The ball bounced in and then bounced horizontally to the other side.

The regulars were certainly surprised and then heard that the name of that serve was 'Thousand Springs.'

"Those two…make up a good pair," Marui stated after they finished the game.

"They sure do," Jackal said surprised that Kirihara and Rose won the game even with one of them blindfolded.

"What should we call them?" Niou asked.

"I think the 'Prodigy Pair' would fit them nicely. After all they are the youngest prodigies of their gender," Yukimura suggested.

They all agreed and so did Rose and Kirihara. "Looks like today was the birth of the 'Prodigy Pair'," Rose commented quietly to herself as she took off her blindfold.


	9. Petal 8: Codes

Petal 8: Codes

"What do you think we should do for the tournament in a few days Akaya?" Rose asked while playing with a strand of her hair.

"I don't know. It was unexpected that Yukimura-buchou decided to put us in doubles one for the tournament. I would've thought for sure that he would have put you or me in singles," Kirihara said while bouncing a tennis ball on his racket.

The two partners had been excused from practice that day to think about their strategy for the next tournament.

"Maybe we should think of a code during our game play," Rose suggested while sitting up.

"That would work," Kirihara said while looking over at Rose.

Rose looked at him with excited eyes and said, "What should we start with?"

Kirihara thought for a minute and then said, "How about a unique way to tell whether the ball is in or out?"

"That'll work for a start. Since I can hear the ball better than you, I can tell you whether the ball you are about to hit is in or out," Rose said standing up from her position.

"Alright, what should the signal be? It has to be quick, or I won't get it in time if it goes in or accidently hit it if it's out," Kirihara stated standing up as well.

"How about this?" Rose asked. Rose hopped on her left foot twice.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kirihara said.

Rose hopped on her left foot twice again and said, "Since I'm left-handed, if I bounce on my left foot twice it's in. However," Rose then switched to hop on her right foot twice, "if I bounce on my right foot twice it is going to be out."

"Sounds good to me. Why don't we practice it then?" Kirihara said holding out his hand for Rose to take.

Rose took his hand and said, "Sure."

Kirihara pulled Rose to the tennis courts and then asked a favor to play a practice match with Yukimura. When Yukimura asked why, the two partners just said because.

Yukimura was confused as to why Rose and Kirihara would want a practice match with him. He was even more confused with the request of hitting some of the balls out at random times. He didn't know what to do but agreed anyway.

After a few balls in, Yukimura could see what they were up to. Every time Yukimura decided to hit it out in Kirihara's direction, he saw Kirihara glance at Rose who suddenly hopped twice on her right foot. Every time he hit it towards Kirihara and it was in, she hopped on her left foot twice.

"So that's what you are working on, you're working on a code for matches using your ability to hear whether a ball is in or out," Yukimura said after telling the two to stop. "Why don't you go to each other's house and think of more codes to try out at practice before the tournament in five days?"

"Ok then," Kirihara answered.

After practice ended, Kirihara got permission to stay at Rose's house for the night to think of more playing codes for their match.

"What do you think we should make a code for next?" Kirihara asked.

"Maybe a code to tell which way we are going when either of us is returning a shot?" Rose said.

Both Kirihara and Rose were sitting on top of Rose's bed trying to come up with ideas for their match. Kirihara sat next to the end of the bed while Rose was on her back close to the pillows swinging her legs back and forth.

Kirihara was in a set of pajamas provided by Dia. It was red with black spots on it representing a ladybug.

Rose was in a red nightgown that reached up to her ankles.

"That would work. What should we use?" Kirihara asked.

"Hmm. How about…our hands?" Rose suggested while holding out her hand.

"Our hands?" Kirihara asked.

"I've got the perfect ideas. Here's what we do…" Rose and Kirihara spent the night talking about the new codes they were going to use for their entire match and waited until tomorrow to test them out.

* * *

The next day, Rose and Kirihara were both driven to school by Dia who was on her way to work. The two partners made it to tennis practices with smirks on their faces.

The two walked up to Yukimura and asked, "Can we have a doubles match right now?"

Yukimura looked at them surprised and then said, "With whom?"

"We want a match with Jackal-senpai and Marui-senpai again…" Kirihara started.

Rose continued saying, "…but we have a few conditions."

The two said opponents walked up and said, "What conditions?"

"First, we want you to hit the ball out at random times…" Rose started.

"…second, we want you to hit power balls…" Kirihara continued.

"…then special techniques that land in specific places…"

"…then use smashes and volleys at random times…"

"…as well as hitting the ball back and forth between us," Rose finished.

"Sounds like good requirements to me," Marui said. "By the way, you two are in perfect synch."

"We are?" Rose and Kirihara asked looking at each other.

The two pairs went to the court while the other members of the club went to the sidelines to watch the next practice match.

Yukimura was excited to see what his two kouhais thought of for codes for their play style.

"Ready Akaya?" Rose said while tying her shoes.

"Aa," Kirihara replied finishing his stretching.

Sanada was once again the ref as he called, "Kirihara-Ryu pair versus Marui-Jackal pair. 1 set match. Kirihara to serve."

Kirihara served a normal serve and then looked as Rose twirled her racket in a clockwise direction. He immediately went to the front while Rose went to the back.

Marui returned the ball towards Kirihara and saw Kirihara glance at Rose who bounced on her left foot twice before Kirihara returned the ball. He didn't know what was going on but wanted to find out.

When Kirihara glanced at Rose to see whether it was in or out, he also saw her wink her left eye and purposely hit a lob over to Jackal's side.

Jackal immediately took the chance to smash the ball only to have it returned by Rose.

The games continued in the same fashion with Kirihara and Rose winning. They were amazing and everyone was surprised at how they were playing without even talking.

The match ended in Rose's and Kirihara's favor of 6-4.

Marui looked at the two with surprise and asked between pants, "How…did you guys…play like that…anyway..."

The two looked at each other and then looked at Marui. They both said the word, "Codes."

"Codes?" Niou questioned.

"Yes codes," Yukimura answered. "They were working on those same codes yesterday. I asked them after my practice match with them yesterday to think of more codes to secretly use during official matches. It seems as if it's going well you two."

"It's going great. You should have seen Rose just saying one idea after another," Kirihara bragged.

"Stop bragging Akaya. You're going to embarrass me," Rose said lightly tapping Kirihara on the head.

"What type of codes did you two come up with?" Yanagi asked.

"We'll tell you then," Rose said.

"Whenever Rose jumped on her left foot twice right after a return, I know it's going to be in. If she bounces twice on her right foot, then it's going to be out," Kirihara said.

"If our hands are pointing to the left when the other returns the ball, then we're going right. If our hands are pointing right, then that means we're going left during the next return."

"If we wink with our left eye, then we are asking for a smash set-up. If we wink with our right, we are asking for a volley set-up." Kirihara said.

"So that's why you lobbed it," Marui remarked.

"If I twirl my racket counterclockwise, I'm telling Akaya that I'm going to the front and returning the next shot. If I twirl my racket clockwise, I'm telling him that I'm going to the back, and he can return the next shot."

"But…if we tap our foot twice on the ground right after a return, it means that we can't reach it and the other has to get it," Kirihara finished explaining.

"Good system. Not too complicated but confusing to the opponents. That's a very good system. How long did it take you to practice?" Yanagi asked.

Rose and Kirihara looked at each other before replying, "An hour or two I guess."

_'Sugoi. Those two are amazing. The name 'Prodigy Pair' won't go to waste with those two,'_ the regulars thought.


	10. Petal 9: Admiration

Petal 9: Admiration

Rikkaidai had won their match once again at the tournament. They had been the winning nationals' team for two years straight, so it was expected. What wasn't expected was a female regular playing along with Kirihara in doubles one.

The spectators were certainly surprised at their cooperation and their sign play. They didn't need to talk at all, they just looked at the way their hand was and the codes they used to know what the other wanted or was going to do. They won their match 6-0 without the other team gaining a single point.

The schools that were watching were certainly surprised. Rikkaidai had won doubles two, doubles one, and singles three with straight wins without the opponents even scoring one point.

The members that played Rikkaidai were traumatized. They were even more scared when Rose requested to talk to the ones who played against her team.

"What are you going to do Rose?" Kirihara asked.

"Give them a pep talk about their match today. They really need to work on working together, or they won't make it anywhere," Rose said packing up her tennis equipment before walking over to her former-opponents.

"Giving our opponents advice? Not a good idea Rose," Yukimura said. When it came to relationships with Rose, Yukimura's relationship with her was second to Kirihara's. Rose was like a big sister that Kirihara looked up to. Kirihara didn't need to talk to him as much as with Rose around. His own relationship with Rose was like that of a big brother and little sister. He cared for her and made sure that she was alright whenever she came injured to practice one day.

"It's not like they can beat us anytime soon buchou. Besides I want to make sure that the opponents we face at the end are the best out of the entire group so far. So giving advice to opponents is a good idea to get better opponents," Rose said slowing down enough so that Kirihara wouldn't tire his legs out even more than he had during the match.

Rose and Kirihara had both been wearing at least 50 kilograms of weights on them. They both had 15 on each of their legs and 10 on their arms. Rose wore an extra 20 kilograms of weights on a strap from her left shoulder to her right side. The regulars were certainly surprised that she could wear that much weight and still beat all of them in a race without breaking a sweat.

"I guess that's a good idea. We do need more challenges around these tournaments," Yukimura said in defeat.

Rose and Kirihara walked over to their opponents and then talked with them about how they could improve.

The opponents were certainly surprised when Rose came up to them and started telling them about what they should work on.

"Why are you telling us this information?" a team member asked.

"Because you have a lot of potential. You just don't know where to begin for training," Rose said with a fake smile plastered on her face.

Kirihara decided to add in something, "Your doubles pairs need to work more on cooperation."

"What are you talking about? You two have obviously been playing doubles together for years. We've only been in doubles for two months," a doubles member whined.

"On the contrary," Yukimura said popping out behind the group.

"Ah! Don't scare us like that Yukimura-buchou. You'll give us a heart attack sooner or later," Kirihara said trying to catch his breath. He looked over at Rose and saw the same bored expression. _'Figures that she doesn't get scared this easily.'_

"What do you mean 'on the contrary'? They look like they have played for years," another member said.

"I mean, those two have only been playing doubles for a week," Yukimura said with a smile on his face.

The former-opposing team was shocked into silence. They were beaten by a doubles team that had only been playing together for a week. They couldn't believe it.

Kirihara, Rose, and Yukimura counted the seconds before the team exploded with questions.

Three…two…one…

"How did you two meet up? In your school? Personally? What?" the members asked.

It took about a half hour just to answer all the questions that the school had about how the 'Prodigy Pair' was born.

After that half hour, other teams that were watching Rikkaidai's match came and gave their compliments as well as opinions about the new pair. Those schools included Seigaku, Hyotei, St. Rudolph, Yamabuki, Fudoumine and other schools.

"If you ask my opinion, those two kittens are quite interesting. Only being in doubles for a week, yet they can play the game this well…" Fuji said opening his eyes to stare at the two.

Kirihara flinched from the stare he felt from Fuji and looked over at Rose. He saw Rose glaring back at Fuji. The people around them even started to step back a few steps to avoid being glared at. He kept near Rose because he knew that she would never glare at him any more since they were partners and unofficial 'siblings.'

Seigaku was certainly surprised when the girl actually glared back at Fuji instead of backing down like other people would when they looked into his eyes. They saw the bored expression on her face.

The other schools noticed it as well and saw how Rose's face was devoid of any true emotion. The only emotion they could clearly make out was that she was insanely bored.

Suddenly Rose's cell phone went off and broke the glaring contest. Rose excused herself to take the phone call after seeing the caller id. Rose went to the bathroom in order to take the call without anyone knowing about her.

"What is it?" Rose said answering the phone.

"A criminal is heading towards the tennis courts. Think you can make it there?" a voice said.

Rose opened her eyes in shock. She slowly answered, "I'm already at the tennis courts. I was having a match right now."

"Oh no, please tell me you brought your gear," the person whined.

"Unfortunately I don't. The gear wouldn't fit in my tennis bag, and it would have been suspicious if I came to a game with two bags instead of one," Rose said shaking her head.

"I see. I'll send some police officers to assist you. Don't reveal your identity yet and keep the criminal as busy as possible when we arrive."

"Of course Officer Girat. What happened with the criminal anyway?" Rose asked as she exited the bathrooms and made her way over to the courts.

"The criminal broke out of some cuffs while being led to the car, knocked out the officers, took their weapons, and then headed to the courts. Make sure you stay safe. No one can know your identity yet Rose."

"Of course. Make sure you call the tennis court supervisors," Rose said hanging up her phone and walking to her teammates.

"What was that call about?" Kirihara asked.

"Just some family business Akaya," Rose answered looking at him with a thoughtful look.

Everyone could tell that the look was fake but said nothing.

Soon everyone heard an announcement, "Attention all courts. Attention all courts. We have received a report from the police that a criminal is on his way here after escaping from police officers. I repeat a criminal is on the way here with weapons. Please exit the courts and go to the designated safe zones for your court."

That was when the trouble started.


	11. Petal 10: Close Call

Petal 10: Close Call

The teams all scrambled to get to the designated safe zones. The only teams that couldn't were Rikkaidai because the other teams made it to the courts safe zone first so there was no room for them at all. They had to stay outside in the courts and hope that the criminal would not come to their court.

Unfortunately luck wasn't on their side when a man about maybe 30 years old jumped into the courts with a gun in his hands and several other guns along his belt.

The Rikkaidai regulars couldn't help but freeze as soon as they saw the criminal.

"Ara? Seems I've found some lost prey," the man said narrowing his eyes.

"What…what are you going to do?" Kirihara asked.

"Name's Ray. As you could tell by the announcement, I'm the criminal that they warned you about. Maybe I should kill a few of you before the police get here. It would be fun identifying who was who after I'm done with you," Ray finished with a small chuckle.

The schools that were talking to Rikkaidai gulped as they heard that. Even if they were rivals, they didn't want anything bad to happen to Rikkaidai.

Ray looked over at the Rikkaidai regulars and saw one staring at him with a blank expression. He yelled, "What are you starting at girly?"

Everyone looked over at Rose as she answered, "Who else would I be staring out ugly?"

Everyone gulped and backed up out of fear.

"What did you say to me?" Ray asked while walking up to Rose.

"I said you were ugly. What are you going to do about it?" Rose said without changing her expression as she saw the man come closer.

"Look girl, I don't know who you are, but you really ought to be careful of a criminal when they've got a gun to your head," Ray said as he placed one of the guns he stole to Rose's forehead.

The regulars all widened their eyes in fear and surprise when they saw that Rose was still wearing the same expression on her face.

"Why should I be afraid of a criminal who doesn't know that his place is in jail?" Rose questioned pushing the gun away from her forehead.

"What are you doing Rose?" Kirihara whispered.

"Well, looks like I found someone who isn't scared of a criminal. What's your name girly?" Ray asked.

"Why should I tell you? You belong in jail along with other criminals," Rose replied bluntly.

"Why you! Should I kill your friends instead?" Ray yelled while he pointed his gun at Kirihara. "That boy seems special to you. Maybe I should kill him first," he said with a sly smile while looking at Rose's expression. He flinched at what he saw.

Rose didn't turn her head but turned her eyes to glare at him menacingly. "Hurt them in any way, and I will make sure that you wish you were dead."

"What can a little girl like you do?" Ray said about to pull the trigger.

When everyone heard a gunshot, they saw a blur go over to Kirihara and push him out of the way. They saw the blur stumble over and roll on the ground and then swiftly get up onto her arms and legs. They saw Rose closing her left eye in pain and saw a gun wound in her left shoulder.

"Seems like you can take a hit," Ray said. "I'm impressed."

Rose stood up shaking the dust off her uniform and already dressing up her shoulder wound saying, "It's going to take more than that to kill me. I've lived through worse."

"Like what," Ray asked as he prepared another gun.

"Know anyone who has survived a gunshot that was a millimeter close to their heart?" Rose said with a smirk as she looked at Ray.

"No. Are you saying you did?"

"Does this," Rose said while pointing to a spot on her back, "say anything to you?"

Ray and the others regulars widened their eyes in shock as they saw a scar on the girls back.

"Whoa, to think I would have the honor to meet a girl who survived a heart shot," Ray said shaking his head with a smile on his face. "Now I really want to know your-"

"Freeze!" someone yelled from behind Ray.

"What in the-" Ray started to say until he was interrupted by two police officers jumping on him from behind and attaching cuffs on him. The police officers made sure to put three cuffs on him just in case.

Rose smirked and then said, "You sure took your sweet time about it."

"Ah shut up Rose," a police officer said.

Rose chuckled before saying, "Way to greet a friend Lily."

"You know I don't mean it," the officer said taking off her hat to reveal yellow hair that reached the girl's shoulders. "Not all of us are as strong as you Rose. Your mothers' training facilities at Heaven's Nightmare are doing wonders for our strength. Too bad your father's the one that specializes in fighting at Hell's Dream in America."

"Are you trying to reveal my identity to Japan Lily?" Rose said crossing her arms.

"Sorry, sorry. Sheesh, you sure are snippy when you can't get in a good fight," Lily said raising her arms in defense. Lily then excused herself and went off with the criminal to court saying, "You were lucky 'Everlasting Flower' wasn't here or she would have beaten you to a pulp."

"You fight?" Kirihara asked hesitantly after seeing Ray go inside the car and being driven off.

"Not really. Just a little self-defense," Rose replied. _'She just had to say that I fight. She even had to tell about my parents' companies. Idiot girl. What am I going to do with that girl?'_

"Seems like those police officers know you personally. Why?" Yukimura asked.

"They train at my mom's fighting facilities. You already know my mother. She places training facilities around Japan for police officers to be trained at and work for."

"So that's how you know them. Interesting," Yanagi said.

The other regulars came out of hiding and went up to Rose asking questions until her phone went off.

Rose answered her phone saying, "Hello?"

"Hello Ro-chan!" a voice screamed on the line.

Rose's face grimaced as she said, "Hello mother."

"Aw. You never call me Dia-chan anymore like you used to," Dia practically whined over the phone.

"When did I ever call you that?" Rose said crossing her arms keeping one hand next to her ear to hold the phone.

"I heard from Lily you got another gun wound. What for this time?"

"Stupid criminal shot at one of my teammates. Why are you worried about it anyway? I get injured all the time," Rose said quietly to avoid her teammates from hearing.

"Dakara you are my daughter. Of course I am worried about these sorts of things."

"Well, I'll go home soon and we can patch up the wound at home alright okaa-san. Ja," Rose finished as she hung up her phone. "Sayonara minna. I have to go home and get mom to patch up my wound."

The regulars watched as Rose walked off with her bag to her house. They looked at each other confused and then shrugged. They said their goodbyes to the teams and then walked off to their own homes.


	12. Petal 11: Just who is she?

Petal 11: Just who is she?

"Ohayou minna!" Rose yelled as she got onto the courts.

"Ohayou Rose!" Kirihara yelled back.

"What's up Kirihara?" Rose asked after getting her racket and tennis balls out of her bag.

"Nothing much. Buchou is wondering about a vacation," Kirihara said shrugging his shoulders and walking with Rose to have a practice match against each other.

"A vacation?" Rose questioned as they got onto opposite sides of the court.

"We haven't had one in a long time, so buchou is deciding whether we should have one now or not at all," Kirihara said as he served.

"I see," Rose said while returning. "Where do you think he will take us?"

"Don't know. If I know anything, it might be tennis-related."

"Souka, he's always interested in tennis. He even ordered us to be training partners during each practice."

"Yeah and because of that, I've almost sealed my 'devil' side even though it has been only around three weeks," Kirihara said with a smile.

"That's good to hear," Rose said returning the ball into the corner earning herself another game.

"Mou! Can't you go easy on me?" Kirihara panted after Rose won another game.

"Well-"

"Rose! Phone call for you!" Yukimura yelled interrupting Rose.

Rose sighed and yelled, "Coming!"

Rose ran over to Yukimura to take her cell phone away from him and left Kirihara to recover some stamina and strength.

"Hello?" Rose said into the phone.

"Good, I've been trying to get a hold of you for the last five minutes," Girat said.

"Why?" Rose said raising an eyebrow.

"You know Ray from a few days ago at your tournament?"

"Yeah~" Rose drawled out narrowing her eyes.

"Well…he escaped," Girat said bluntly.

Rose widened her eyes and then asked slowly, "Where is he heading?"

"He caught your name being Rose and then searched the schools. He's heading towards your school to say 'take you out' before anyone else can."

Rose lowered her head and said, "I see…I've already got my gear. Make sure you send someone to help," Rose finished hanging up. She walked over to Yukimura and said, "That was a family member, I have to be excused from practice for today please."

Yukimura looked at her and then said slowly, "Sure I guess. Make sure you practice twice as hard tomorrow alright?"

"Sure buchou," Rose said. She ran over to the locker rooms, grabbed her stuff, and went to change clothes. Instead of changing into her school clothes to walk home, she changed into her red cheongsam, tied a gold ribbon around her neck, removed her black wig, removed her blue contacts, and removed the make-up on her star birthmark. "I have to protect them," she whispered, "They are no longer my charge, they're…actual friends," she finished with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

* * *

"What do you think that was about buchou?" Marui asked as he saw Rose running towards the locker room.

"Don't know. She said that it was a family matter, but I could tell from the look on her face that it was something else. She wasn't herself after that. I could actually see a bit of fear in her eyes. Don't know what for-" Yukimura tried to reply.

All of a sudden the club heard an announcement. "Attention all students. Attention all students. There is a criminal in our school; I repeat there is a criminal in our school."

The regulars all widened their eyes and tried to lock the doors…but were too late. They saw a man slam the doors open and saw who it was.

"You!" Kirihara yelled.

"Long time, no see boys," Ray responded with a smirk on his face.

"Didn't that girl Lily send you to jail?" Marui yelled.

"Escaped yesterday. I want that girl in your group. She seems really interesting," Ray said with a sly smile.

"Well bad luck for you, she already went home," Sanada replied calmly.

"Shoot, didn't expect that to happen. Maybe I'll just kill some of you to force her to come back," Ray said pointing him gun at Kirihara. "I'll start off with you considering you seem to be her closest partner."

All the regulars could hear was a gunshot sounding through the gym. They could see Kirihara's face and feared for what happened…if it happened.

They all heard a sound of a bullet ricocheting off a sword. They opened their eyes to see a young girl in front of Kirihara with a red sword in front of her and an icy blue sword behind Kirihara.

"You are!" Kirihara started.

The girl stood up to reveal her face and showed a smirk to the regulars. "Seems like you know me boys, even though I don't know you." _'Shoot. Why did he have to attack the regulars? And he just had to attack Kirihara first again? Does he have a thing for torturing people?'_

"We've heard about you before. You are THE 'Everlasting Flower' right?" Marui yelled out.

"She is the 'Everlasting Flower?' Doesn't seem like much to me," Ray said reloading his gun.

Rose looked at Ray and said with a sly smile, "Is that so? Why don't I show you why I am the youngest and the best of any police officers?" Rose said pulling her swords away from Kirihara. She pushed Kirihara towards the other regulars and told them to lock the doors and get somewhere safe.

The regulars followed her orders and immediately locked the doors. They quickly went behind the bleachers to get some cover. They didn't want to leave the gym because they wanted to see the fight.

Rose decided to end this fight quickly, so she knocked over a basket full of tennis balls causing them to fall all over the gym floor. Ray chose that moment to charge straight at Rose, instead falling flat on his face from slipping on one of the tennis balls. Rose quickly used her icy blue sword to pick up some of the balls with the flat side of the blade. The blade itself looked like ice itself and curved to make it look like a crescent. She used her red sword like a racket and swung it to meet the tennis balls to fly at her opponent. Her red sword didn't look very much like a sword. Her red sword had the blade sure but at the end of the sword was a jeweled sun. The sun would often glow when it struck something.

Rose quickly sent the tennis balls flying at Ray and then went around him.

While Ray was distracted with the tennis balls, he didn't see Rose come up and swing the flat of her blade against his head. He immediately went unconscious.

The regulars all thought _'Who is she?'_ as they saw the police officers come and talk with 'Everlasting Flower' about the criminal and saying their apologies for letting the criminal escape.


	13. Petal 12: Vacation Fears

Petal 12: Vacation Fears…

The next day was somewhat normal. The whole school heard about yesterday's event with Ray and were asking the male regulars questions about what happened.

The questions stopped when Rose came into the room and glared at the females to leave her teammates alone.

"Did you hear what happened yesterday Rose?" Niou asked.

Rose looked at him and replied saying, "How could I not? Everyone has been talking about it. Even people I met from other schools were talking about it."

"Other schools were talking about it?" Marui said glomping Rose from behind.

"We need to practice right?" Rose said taking her tennis racket out of her bag.

"On the contrary Rose," Yukimura said popping up behind the three.

Marui and Niou screamed and yelled "Don't scare us like that Yukimura-buchou!"

They all looked at Rose and saw that she was looking at them with the same bored expression.

"What do you mean by that?" Rose asked.

"I mean we are going to be taking a vacation for the next week for your first win on our team," Yukimura said with a genuine smile.

"Eh! Honto!" the regulars all yelled.

"Yes, we will take a vacation to celebrate Rose's first win for our team," Yukimura explained.

"Cool! Thanks so much Rose!" Marui yelled.

"I didn't really do much. Kirihara helped as well. Where will we be going?" Rose asked.

"You'll find out tomorrow. Pack up your stuff. We have clothing for all of you for our trip there by asking your parents. They won't tell you where you are going either so don't ask them."

"Alright then, see you all tomorrow then," Rose said packing up her stuff and leaving to pack.

* * *

"We are seriously staying here?" Rose asked when they reached their destination.

The regulars were having a vacation at a beach that was on the other side of Japan. The regulars were all staying in a cabin that had ten rooms. The cabin was pretty big for them, and the group was planning to put their luggage in their rooms later.

Yukimura looked at Rose and said, "Are you saying you don't like it?"

"No I like it. It's just not what I expected," Rose said flashing a fake smile at Yukimura.

Yanagi looked closely at Rose's expression and saw that it was more forced than usual.

"Why don't we go swim at the beach then. We are staying here for the week," Yukimura suggested. "Your parents already sent us your swim suits and we have put them in your assigned rooms."

The regulars all cheered and ran off to get their swim suits on. Rose was the only one who was not running and was trying to delay getting to her room as much as possible.

The regulars wondered why but didn't question her in case she would snap at them.

They quickly got their suits from their rooms and changed into them. After they were all done, they saw Rose waiting for them outside in her original clothing of a red tank top and blue shorts.

"Aren't you going to get changed?" Kirihara asked.

"Nah," Rose said shaking her head, "I'm a bit tired, so I think I'll just lie down on the sand."

"Oh," Kirihara said sadly, "okay then. Tell us when you want to go swimming then."

"Come on let's go Kirihara!" Marui said dragging the boy towards the waves.

The other regulars made their way into the water and shivered at how cold it was. They thought it was another reason why Rose wouldn't get into the water.

Rose laid her towel on the sand and then sat up on it. She raised an umbrella over her head to avoid getting sunburned. She pulled her knees up to her chest and laid her head there. She watched the regulars play in the water, splashing each other, racing each other, playing with a beach ball. She frowned at the sight. If only she wasn't afraid. Then she would be able to join them. She lowered her eyes and felt even sadder at that thought.

The regulars stopped what they were doing for a moment when they saw Rose close her eyes halfway. They could see the sadness in them, and Kirihara decided to talk to Rose.

He got out of the water and started walking over to Rose saying, "Are you alright Rose?"

Rose lifted her head and showed a fake smile saying, "What do you mean Akaya?"

"You look sad. Are you sure you don't want to swim?" Kirihara asked extremely concerned.

"I'm fine. Just go ahead and play," Roe said pointing her hand to the ocean water.

"But this vacation was also meant for you remember?" Marui said popping out from behind Kirihara.

Kirihara screamed and yelled, "What were you thinking Marui-senpai?"

Rose kept a bored face like always and asked, "What is it Marui-senpai?"

"Come on into the water Rose," Marui said picking Rose up and placing her on his shoulder.

Rose immediately widened her eyes and quickly closed them as she started thrashing around. She yelled, "Put me down! Put me down right now!"

Marui chuckled and said, "No way! You are going swimming with us!"

"I said put me down!" Rose yelled as she opened her eyes.

The regulars were shocked at her face. They could see plain fear in her eyes as Marui went closer to the water. They saw her thrash more and more as she got closer to the water.

"Come on what's the matter Rose?" Marui yelled happily.

Rose had enough of this joke and quickly hit Marui's back right below his neck causing him to kneel over and let her go. She quickly ran away from him towards Kirihara who was still by her beach towel.

"What was that for Rose?" Marui yelled as soon as he could stand up. Then he saw her face and instantly felt guilty.

Rose was showing her fear and knew it. She didn't care as long as she didn't go near the water. She never wanted to go into the water as long as she lived. She muttered the same thing to herself, but unfortunately Kirihara heard it.

"Can you repeat that Rose?" Kirihara asked gaining the attention from all the regulars causing them to come towards Roes with worried looks on their faces.

Rose stared at them with sadness in her eyes and then at the ground in front of her. She whispered something again, and the others told her to speak louder.

Rose had enough and yelled, "I'm afraid of the ocean alright! I've always been afraid of it!"

The regulars were certainly surprised at her reaction. Never did they imagine that Rose would be afraid of something.

"Why are you afraid of the ocean?" Kirihara asked concerned.

Rose looked away from them, and the regulars knew that either she was going to say something about it or yell at them. Rose then decided to say, "I nearly drowned one time in the ocean when I was younger. You happy?" she asked looking away from them.

The regulars widened their eyes in surprise.

Yukimura was extremely guilty now. If he had known about this, he would have located the vacation somewhere else.

Kirihara broke the silence by saying, "You don't have to be afraid, Rose. We're here for you. We're always here with you. You don't have to worry about it," he finished placing a hand on Rose's shoulder.

"Demo…" Rose said looking at Kirihara.

"Kirihara's right. You don't have to be afraid with us around Rose," Marui said placing a hand on her other shoulder.

The regulars saw Rose look at them with surprised eyes and saw her give a small smile.

"Arigato," Rose said. "Then if you don't mind, I'll go change and try to get into the ocean. And I did say 'try' you got that?" Rose said before she ran off towards the house to change.


	14. Petal 13: Swimming Lessons

Petal 13: Swimming Lessons…

When Rose came out later, the regulars were certainly surprised. She was wearing a golden one-piece that had blue flowers all over the swimsuit.

"Where should we start?" Rose asked.

"On what?" Niou replied.

"I thought you could help me get over my fear of the ocean. Is that too much to ask?" Rose said tilting her head.

Marui replied saying, "Of course not Rose. We would be glad to help you. Why don't we get a float, so you can sit on it?"

"Okay then!" Rose yelled back. Marui and Rose left to the shop that was close by to buy a float. They bought a blow-up whale and went back to the regulars.

When the regulars tried blowing up the whale, they got light-headed from blowing too hard. Rose took it away from them and blew up the whale herself. It was two feet wide and five feet in length, so she could sit on it without worrying about falling off.

Marui placed the whale in the water and led Rose onto it. Rose tightly grabbed the handles on the side of the toy to hold on to before Niou told to relax her hands before she popped it.

The regulars then stood five feet away from her while Kirihara stood by her pushing her further out into the water.

"Try putting your feet into the water now," Kirihara said holding onto Rose's shoulders.

Rose nodded before pulling her feet over the whale toy and placing them into the water. She shivered at how cold it was but didn't mind it. She was just happy the others were helping her with this. She saw Kirihara swinging his legs trying to float in the water. She didn't notice that they were a bit far out enough to make the water level go above Kirihara's head when he stood up on the ground.

"Now then, try getting yourself into the water," Kirihara said still holding Rose's shoulders.

She nodded again before slowly lowering herself into the water while still holding the handles of the whale toy. She immediately wanted to get back up because of how cold it was before Kirihara told her it was a bad idea. After a while she got used to the temperature and nodded at Kirihara.

Kirihara nodded back and then said, "Try letting go of the whale toy and swim now." Kirihara released Rose's shoulders after that.

Rose hesitantly nodded before letting go of the whale and slowly kicked her legs to keep afloat in the water. She pushed her arms outward and pulled them in to start swimming. She was going really slowly, but it was enough to make the other regulars smile.

Rose knew that the others were happy and stopped sharply. She didn't expect what happened next.

Next to the two was a patch of seaweed that acted like vines. Rose got her feet tangled up in the seaweed when she was first floating, and when she stopped, she was immediately pulled down under the water surface.

The regulars gasped and tried to get to her. Kirihara dived into the water trying to see Rose. The seawater hurt his eyes, but he could still see through the water. He could see Rose with her cheeks puffed having one eye open while trying to pull the vines off of her.

Kirihara went up to her and immediately started pulling at the seaweed as well. He saw the other regulars getting closer and worked faster to get Rose out of the weeds. He looked up at Rose and saw her cough up the remaining air she had. He had to work fast before she lost consciousness from the lack of air. Kirihara finally thought of something and pulled down Rose's hands to cut the seaweed with her fingernails. _'Good thing she still acts like a girl by keeping her nails sharp,'_ he thought.

As soon as Rose was free from the weeds, Kirihara pulled her up out of the water and over to the whale float.

Rose was glad at Kirihara's quick thinking and started coughing up the seawater she got in her mouth when she reached the surface. She saw the other regulars approaching her. She was extremely glad that they felt worried and closed her eyes halfway to try and calm down.

The regulars saw Rose trying to relax and got her onto the whale float. Once they got her onto the float the group pulled the float back to the shore while Kirihara kept his hand on Rose's back to keep her from falling off. Once they got to the shore, Kirihara lifted Rose up into his arms and carried her back to her beach towel and laid her on it.

Once they got Rose onto the beach towel, the regulars immediately relaxed.

"I guess that didn't help with your fear much," Marui commented.

"On the contrary," Rose said with her eyes closed. She opened them again saying, "It was…quite fun."

"Quite fun? You nearly drowned again," Niou said.

Rose shook her head and said, "That wasn't the fun part. The fun part was seeing your smiles and seeing you try to protect me."

"Kirihara was the one who helped you," Yanagi commented.

"Yes, but you all tried to help me. Speaking of which, nice idea using my fingernails to cut the seaweed," Rose said looking at Kirihara with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

Kirihara blushed again and said, "No problem Rose. After all you are my big sister."

"Eh! Big sister!" the regulars yelled.

Rose and Kirihara looked at each other before Kirihara started laughing.

Rose explained, "We aren't actual siblings, but we act like it. You see I don't have a sibling, and when Kirihara explained his relationship with me, I felt it would be good to have a little brother…even if he is older than me by a year…"

The regulars laughed at that comment.

"Well, the incident didn't help much but the other stuff did. I'll try to conquer it during the week…but right now I'm tired." Rose proved her point by falling down onto her back on the towel and closed her eyes.

After a few minutes, the regulars knew she was fast asleep. They were glad though. They were glad Rose trusted them more and she did before. They decided…they decided they would help her with any fear they had starting with this.

Every day during the week, the regulars helped Rose learn how to swim. She could only go out a few feet during the first few days, but by the end of the week, she was able to swim a tennis court perimeter's length without having to go back to shore.


	15. Petal 14: Warning

Petal 14: Warning…

"Come on Rose, we almost have this!" Kirihara yelled from across the court.

"Alright Akaya! Calm down a bit!" Rose yelled back.

The two partners had been working for about two months on sealing Kirihara's 'devil mode.' They had it mostly sealed but knew that it could still be brought out. They were training for their match with Fudoumine next week and wanted to have it sealed by then. Their schedule would only allow them to seal it in two weeks and not one. If they added any more time to work on it, they would be going without any sleep for the next week which Yukimura discouraged. They had to stick with their schedule to seal it within two weeks instead of one.

"Let's take a break Akaya!" Rose yelled after finishing another match. During this practice, the two had already played two matches with Rose winning 7-6 each time.

"Ok Rose! If you need me, I'll be on the benches trying to recover," Kirihara finished with a laugh.

"Ok then Akaya!" Rose yelled back. She was waiting for someone to show up at practice all day and when he did, she was still busy playing a match with Kirihara. She walked over to Yukimura and asked for some privacy.

The two walked to the clubroom and made sure no one followed them.

"What is it Rose?" Yukimura asked suspicious about Rose's behavior. She never wanted to talk to him alone unless it was something important about the team.

"It's about Akaya," she replied.

"What about him?" Yukimura asked instantly more interested.

"It's about his 'devil mode'," she replied.

"You have been doing great work. It seems as if he won't activate it again for a while," Yukimura said with a smile. He saw Rose tilt her head down to look at her feet and saw the worry in her eyes.

Rose said, "That's exactly my point."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it seems like he won't activate it for a while. He hasn't activated it for a while right?" Rose asked lifting her head up to stare right at Yukimura.

Yukimura saw the serious look on her face and said, "Yes~."

"The problem with that is that the energy of him being 'devil Akaya' is being stored up. If he ever transforms back into 'devil Akaya' before we have it sealed…he'll be more violent than ever."

"You mean…"

"If he transforms at all before we have it sealed when playing a match, the person playing him…will be sent to the hospital for who knows how long."

"Have you told him about this?" Yukimura asked with a serious expression. He knew that Rose and Kirihara had been working too hard on sealing Kirihara's 'devil mode' to let it go to waste in one match. He didn't want it to happen.

"Of course not Yukimura-buchou."

"Why not?"

"Think about it buchou. If I told him what could happen, he would always be thinking about it. He would be pressuring himself never to go into 'devil mode' which would make it easier for his 'devil side' to control him during a match. If I told him the consequences of him transforming before we have it sealed…it would be asking for him to transform during a match."

"I see. What should we do?"

"We need to let things go as they are. But…if he transforms at all during the match with Fudoumine next week…you need to call a time-out so that I can stop him. It seems he only listens to me and you, and since I have a closer relationship to him, I can help him get out of it faster."

"Alright then. I will keep that in mind. Let's pray that he doesn't transform in the match next week."

"Let's hope so," Rose said walking out of the clubroom with Yukimura following her.

Too bad though…sometimes luck doesn't happen with everyone's wishes.

It was the day of the match with Fudoumine, and everyone was excited. Kirihara was certainly excited for being placed in Singles Three with Rose in Singles Two. Rose knew that they were going to win even without her playing a match so she decided to help Kirihara warm up for his match.

"Think you'll do okay Akaya?" Rose asked while she ran with Kirihara around the courts.

"Yeah I think I should be. As long as he doesn't provoke me too much," Kirihara replied with a slight grin.

"That's good to hear. We haven't worked for two hard months to just let it all loose," Rose responded with a small smile and a thoughtful look in her eyes.

"Let's go back. My match is going to start soon," Kirihara said running faster.

"Slow down, or you'll lose your stamina before your match even starts," Rose said catching up to him and pulling his arm to slow down. "We'll make it there in time, don't worry about it."

The two made it to Kirihara's match on time and saw the scoreboards. Doubles Two and Doubles One won with straight games. Fudoumine could only take a few points per match but that was it.

Kirihara walked out onto the courts to play against Tachibana Kippei, the captain of the Fudoumine team.

The match started with Kirihara's serve and proceeded for ten minutes before the game was 3-1 in Kirihara's favor.

"Think he'll be alright Rose?" Yukimura asked.

"He should be…as long as he doesn't fall flat on his face or get provoked," she answered watching the game. Tachibana scored another point earning him a second game.

The game continued along until the match was 4-3 in Kirihara's favor. Just one more game and Kirihara would have won it…until it happened.

Kirihara had enough of Tachibana's team yelling at him about his 'devil side.' They crossed the line when they mentioned how Rose shouldn't be on the team. Kirihara started to hit shots aiming at Tachibana's knees.

Rose widened her eyes when that started and said, "Oh no. This is not good. This is really not good."

"Why not? He's winning isn't he?" Marui asked.

"All he's doing is aiming for someone's knees like he usually does," Niou interrupted.

"That's not what it stands for anymore," Rose answered.

"What do you mean Rose?" Yukimura questioned.

"During the practice matches we had against each other, each time he started aiming for my knees…it meant he would be going into 'devil Akaya' soon after. Each time it happened, I would forcefully stop the match and make him cool down for an hour. But…since this isn't a practice match, we can't have a time-out for a whole hour. This is not good. If he goes into 'devil Akaya' at this rate…" Rose narrowed her eyes before saying, "Tachibana could be in the hospital for good," she finished grimly.

The regulars all widened their eyes and looked towards Kirihara who was still aiming at Tachibana's knees.

"What should we do if he goes devil on us?" Marui asked.

"I told Yukimura that he should call a time-out until I can knock him out of it. In the meantime, just in case he goes out of control, I need you and Niou to get Tachibana off the courts," Rose said.

"Will do Rose," Niou answered.


	16. Petal 15: Devils Run Loose

Petal 15: Devils Run Loose

The regulars turned back to Kirihara as he continued aiming shots at Tachibana's knees. The Rikkaidai regulars felt sorry for him but could not do anything for him right now.

It was 5-3 in Kirihara's favor. He would have won the game in another minute or so…if he didn't fall flat on his face trying to return a shot.

The regulars widened their eyes in fear as they saw Kirihara stand back up…with red in his eyes.

His eyes were bloodshot now and that only meant one thing…he was in 'devil mode.'

Yukimura yelled to the ref, "Time out!"

The ref nodded his approval.

Tachibana and Kirihara didn't move from their spots. Kirihara was too busy going to serve to notice the call. He was going to serve his 'Knuckle Serve' right at Tachibana's injured knee.

Niou, Marui, and Rose saw this and immediately went onto the court. Niou and Marui went over to Tachibana and dragged him off the court while Rose went over to Kirihara.

Rose yelled out, "Stop Akaya!"

Kirihara didn't hear her as he turned towards Tachibana and served the ball.

"Watch out! Niou-senpai! Marui-senpai! Tachibana-san!" Rose yelled out seeing the ball head over to them.

She watched as Niou quickly got his racket from his side and returned the shot.

Rose sighed out of relief and turned back to Kirihara. She watched as Kirihara had a frown on his face and went to grab another ball to serve. Rose ran over behind Kirihara and put her arms under his shoulders and pulled them up to his head to restrain the boy.

The Fudoumine regulars had confusion on their faces as they watched Kirihara being restrained by his own teammate.

"Come on, stop this Akaya! This isn't what we trained two months for!" Rose yelled trying to get Kirihara to calm down.

Yukimura saw Seigaku and Hyotei coming towards them.

Yukimura talked with Tezuka and Atobe to find out that the two were worried when the winner of their match wasn't announced yet.

"We would have thought for sure, your match would have been finished by now Yukimura," Tezuka said.

Yukimura looked towards the courts replying, "We had a little problem. Kirihara turned into 'devil mode' again."

"What is that girl doing?" Atobe asked.

"She's trying to get Akaya to calm down. She has the closest relationship with him, so she should be able to get him out of his 'devil mode' quickly."

"She might need a little help," Tezuka said.

"Why?" Yukimura asked.

"Because of that!" Marui yelled pointing at Kirihara.

Yukimura turned around to see Kirihara breaking out of Rose's restraint and toss her.

Rose was surprised when Kirihara broke out of her restraint on him and was even more surprised when Kirihara grabbed her arm and threw her across the court. She looked up at Kirihara to see him heading over to her with a tennis ball and racket in his hand. She frowned and then jumped back onto her feet and started running towards Kirihara.

Kirihara saw Rose and wanted to stop but couldn't. He saw that he was going to serve a 'Knuckle Serve' at Rose and tried to warn her because he never wanted to harm her.

Rose saw what Kirihara was going to do. She quickly jumped back and ran in another direction. It worked for a while when she saw Kirihara serve at her and missed…until the ball spun towards her and bounced right into her arm.

The regulars widened their eyes in shock and in fear as they watched Rose stumble over and roll five feet away.

Rose wasn't going to give up on Kirihara. She cared about him too much in order to let their hard work go to waste because of this. She charged at him again before he served another ball. She couldn't get to him again before he served three balls. She tried to dodge all of them but couldn't because one aimed at her other arm, and the other two were aimed right at her knees. She rolled another few feet away before Kirihara served another three. This time, the three tennis balls hit Rose's stomach, chest, and forehead.

The regulars could see all the bruises she was going to get and hoped that she would be alright after this.

Rose wasn't going to give up. She decided never to give up on anything. That was her code. Her code to 'Fight for what you find precious. Fight like your life depended on it. Fight…until your heart gives out.' That was her code, and she was going to live by it or die by it no matter what. She charged at him once again before he served again.

She got to him in time in knock the racket out of his hand by slapping his wrist. She then kicked him in the knees to make him buckle over and then hugged him across the waist to hold him down.

The regulars saw that Rose was in pain from her injuries and widened their eyes even more when they started to see blood trickling down onto the ground.

"Stop this Akaya. You shouldn't hurt yourself anymore," Rose said calmly despite her injuries bleeding. She hugged Kirihara tighter making his arms go to his side.

Everyone could see Kirihara's eyes go from blood red to their original green color.

Kirihara turned back to normal to see Rose hugging him across the waist. He was confused until he saw what happened. He went into 'devil mode' again…and hurt Rose because of it. He looked at the damage he had done and saw the bruise marks on her arms, legs, stomach, chest, and forehead. He immediately had tears in his eyes and hugged Rose back apologizing so many times, that no one could count how many.

Rose said, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you didn't mean it. You were provoked. At least you took it out on me instead of someone else neh?" Rose finished with a wink.

"Demo…I hurt you…really badly by the looks of it," Kirihara said with his head down.

Rose looked at him with a genuine thoughtful smile and lifted his chin to look at her. She said, "You didn't mean anything by it. We'll work harder to seal it alright. Nothing wrong with a little set-back," she finished placing a light kiss on his forehead.

Everyone could see Kirihara blush and giggled.

Rose pulled away from Kirihara to let him finish his match while she sat on the coaching bench to cheer him on after the ref let her.

Kirihara won in the long run, and Tachibana left the courts without a scratch on him.

Kirihara walked over to Rose after the match finished and asked again whether she was alright.

"I told you, I'm fine. See?" Rose said trying to stand up only to stumble back down onto the bench. She closed her eyes in pain as the bruises were starting to take their toll.

Kirihara went to her shaking his head and then picked her up.

Rose was surprised when Kirihara pulled her up and onto his back. She widened her eyes in surprise when she heard him say, "I'll take you home."

She smiled while she said her thanks.

Kirihara and Rose said their goodbyes to Fudoumine, Seigaku, Hyotei and their teammates before they went to Rose's house.

When the two got there, Dia was worried sick seeing all the bruises. When she found out Kirihara did it however, she reacted in a way that Kirihara didn't expect. Dia just nodded her head in understanding and talked to him about staying over to take care of Rose while she was at work at Heaven's Nightmare.

Kirihara got permission to stay over at Rose's house again and helped Rose to her room to patch up the bruises on her arms, legs, stomach, and forehead. He went to his own room to get changed while Rose patched up her chest.

All in all…Kirihara learned why he had to learn how to seal his 'devil' side. He would have to seal it in order to keep Rose safe.


	17. Petal 16: Another One?

Petal 16: Another One?

"Mah, mah Rose-chan. Don't get so upset," Marui said trying to calm Rose down.

"How can I not be upset when you freaking took me to an amusement park?" Rose yelled.

"What's so bad about them?" Niou asked dragging Rose to another ride.

"Nothing's wrong with them. I just don't like them is all," Rose said. _'If they figure out that secret too, I am so toast.'_

"Come on Rose! I want to go on that rollercoaster!" Kirihara yelled pointing at a rollercoaster. This one had over ten loop-de-loops and was over two miles in length if you were able to stretch out the tracks.

Rose looked at the thing and plastered on another fake smile saying, "Sure Akaya. Why not?"

They both got in line for the ride which was surprisingly short for some odd reason. They waited until they got to the front while talking.

"I'm going to scream as loud as I can!" Kirihara yelled.

"Souka…" Rose said unenthusiastic.

"Come on Rose! You're riding with me in the front!" Kirihara said pulling Rose to the front of the rollercoaster seats once they got past the gates.

Rose followed along quickly but reluctantly.

"Be sure to keep your legs and arms inside the ride at all times," a supervisor cautioned.

Rose took a look at the man's face and saw the serious look. She was sure to take that warning to heart.

A few seconds later the handlebars were secured over the whole lot of people, and the ride zipped off.

Everyone was screaming their heads off for joy. Rose was screaming for something else however. During the eight loop-de-loop, something happened.

Rose knew that warning was too serious to be just a standard warning. The handlebars were shaking, and the one they were using came off completely. Unfortunately they were at the top of the loop-de-loop, so the two started falling.

Kirihara started screaming at the top of his lungs from the fear of falling while the regulars who were still on the ground could only watch in fear.

Rose quickly grabbed the handrails on their car with one hand and grabbed the collar of Kirihara's shirt with the other. And if things weren't bad enough, the supervisors chose that moment to stop the ride at the top of the loop-de-loop. Rose saw that the other passengers were looking at them with concerned looks and were holding onto the handrails for their life just in case their handlebars fell off as well.

Kirihara looked up to thank Rose but stopped. He could see the sweat run down Rose's forehead as she looked at the ground. Her eyes showed something…fear. It got him thinking. _'Is she afraid of heights? If she is, I will have to apologize to her.'_ "Arigato Rose!" he yelled.

"Betsuni Akaya," Rose said with another smile.

Kirihara knew better though. He could tell that smile was a complete fake. He could also see the strain on her hands from holding both them up from falling. Kirihara wondered _'Where are those stupid supervisors when you need them. Oh, speak of the devil.' _Kirihara saw a small helicopter heading their way. They were about 100 feet up in the air. The helicopter made it to the back of the ride first and got everyone into it. Kirihara thought _'Why is that thing getting them first. We are the ones hanging on for dear life. Rose is going to break her wrist if she holds on any longer.'_

Rose could hear the other passengers yelling at the helicopter pilot to save them first. She didn't mind if she was saved herself but did mind that Kirihara should have gotten on first. After all, he was the first one to fall out of the ride. She kept cursing the helicopter pilot for making them wait because she knew if she held on any longer to the handrail, she was going to break her wrist.

The helicopter finally made it to them having the excuse that it reached the back first before them.

Kirihara thanked him reluctantly and went to check on Rose when she got on the helicopter. As soon as they touched the ground, Kirihara led Rose out of the helicopter over to their teammates.

"Daijoubu Rose?" Marui asked.

"Aa. Daijoubu Marui-senpai," Rose answered.

"That was close neh Kirihara?" Niou asked.

"You bet it was. I was lucky that Rose had thought to grab the handrail and grab me at the same time," Kirihara said. "Arigato again Rose."

"Betsuni Akaya," Rose said rubbing her wrist.

"Rose?" Yukimura said.

"Yes?" Rose replied.

"Let me see your wrist."

"Hmm. Okay then," Rose said holding out her wrist for everyone to see.

The regulars widened their eyes. They could see the strain that she felt from holding onto the ride that long. She had a red bruise mark around her entire wrist where the joint would be and saw that her fingertips were red as well.

"Mattaku…you're always so reckless Rose," Yukimura sighed.

Rose looked at him with a glare and said, "Would you rather had me drop Akaya instead? Yukimura-buchou?"

Yukimura immediately shut up. _'Damn. She's acting like a sadist again.'_

_'Have to keep the act up. I was freaking scared for my life back there for two reasons!'_ Rose thought.

Kirihara asked, "Rose, you looked scared up there. Why?"

Everyone looked at Rose for her answer and saw her tense up a bit before answering, "I was just scared of falling off that's all. After all, I didn't want to let my partner fall. That just wouldn't work for the 'Prodigy Pair' neh?" she finished ruffling up Kirihara's hair. _'They had better not figure out that I'm scared of heights!'_

The regulars shrugged and then decided to go home after that incident. They wished each other goodbyes and then went home to rest. They were planning on training hard for their match against Seigaku next week for their ticket to Nationals.


	18. Petal 17: Cats Out of the Bag

Petal 17: Cats Out of the Bag

It was the end of the finals match to get into Nationals and Rikkaidai had won. Sanada had won against Ryoma with a match of 7-6. It was pretty close. Yukimura was pretty glad along with the other regulars.

Seigaku was going to Nationals as runner-up with Rikkaidai going as the winner. Seigaku and Rikkaidai went to the net and shook hands. They were both going to leave the courts until…it…happened.

A few gunshots rung throughout the court, and the regulars were surrounded by five criminals. The regulars were scared stiff along with the spectators.

Rose glared at them all with a hint of anger in her eyes. _'Why are they here? I sent them to jail years ago in America, so what are they doing here in Japan?'_

"Where is 'Everlasting Flower'?" one of the criminals asked.

The regulars looked at them confused.

"There is no one by the name of 'Everlasting Flower' here," the ref said as calmly as he could.

"No~," the same criminal drawled out, "'Everlasting Flower' is here. We know it. We've heard the reports that she was a girl sent to one of the schools as a bodyguard."

"The only new addition any school has had is Seigaku's Ryoma and Rikkaidai's…Rose," Yukimura said hesitantly.

The regulars looked towards Rose to see her give off the same bored expression.

"There is no way that girl can be her," another criminal said. "Unlike her, 'Everlasting Flower' can actually smile. Although something is off with that smile each and every time."

Rose slowly pulled up her shoulder bag so that the strap could reach her mouth. She whispered, "R.E.F. Requesting assistance."

One of the criminals saw and yelled, "Oi! Girl! What are you doing?"

Rose quickly took the strap away from her face and said with her eyes closed, "Nothing. The strap was getting annoying, so I adjusted it."

"You think you can talk to us like that girly?" another criminal stated.

"Do you even know who we are?" one said.

"The name's Kyo," the black haired male said.

The red-headed female came up and said, "Hari. Nice to meet you!"

The orange-headed female came up to say, "Lith."

A brown-haired male came up beside Hari and said, "Shade."

"I'm Hest. Nice to meet you kiddo," a blonde male said.

"Hmm. Why are you telling us this again?" Rose asked unenthusiastic while she checked her nails.

The criminals got angry right then and said, "Because…you should know who is going to kill you and send you straight to the afterlife."

The regulars gulped while Rose remained impassive. The regulars all started to try and find a way out.

Hari said, "Let those males go. They don't seem fun. Her on the other hand…she seems like a fighter."

"Yeah. Look at the look in her eyes," Lith said.

Everyone looked at Rose and saw anger in her eyes. They all didn't know why though.

"Ara? Seems like you got the police department mad," Rose said.

"What are you talking about brat?" Kyo said.

Rose smirked and then pointed over to the tennis courts entrance.

The criminals all looked over at the gates into the tennis grounds and saw police cars lining up.

"How did?" Hari gasped out.

They all looked at Rose who evilly grinned.

"You! You called them here!" Hest yelled.

"Who else could have called them?" Rose said checking her nails again.

Hest widened his eyes in anger and yelled, "That's it! You're so dead!" They all charged at Rose revealing the guns they had in their pockets.

Rose noticed them coming and jumped up out of the way. She saw the police officers finally getting out of their car and smirked. However…she didn't notice that Hari turned around and shot her. She heard the gunshot and moved quickly to avoid getting killed but…the shot hit her hair. It knocked the wig off to reveal her pure white hair.

The spectators, regulars, and criminals were especially shocked.

Rose widened her eyes in shock and said, "Aw shoot. Now look what you did!"

The police officers came up, and Lily yelled, "Rose! Are you alright?"

"Yeah! Except that girl over there blew my wig off!" Rose said angrily.

"That's…so not good," Lily said grimly.

"Oh you think that's not good? Wait until my mom finds out I let the secret loose!" Rose said before quickly covering her mouth with her hands.

"Oh shoot. You did not just say that. You did not just say that!" Lily yelled.

"What secret?" Yukimura asked.

"I am so screwed," Rose said covering her face with her hand and shaking her head.

Lily was too busy saying the phrase 'Not good. Not good at all,' over and over again.

The criminals widened their eyes in recognition. They all pointed and yelled, "You! You're the one that sent us to jail. EVERLASTING FLOWER!"

Rose and Lily both lifted their heads to glare at the group. Rose yelled out, "You just had to blurt it out didn't you!"

"Cat's out of the bag," Lily said.

"Mattaku. Didn't think that a criminal I sent to jail years ago would be the one to blow up my cover," Rose said holding her neck. She quickly swung it down to reveal the star birthmark. "Looks like…I have to go full out because of that," Rose said raising her hand to her eyes and then suddenly pulling them away taking her contacts to show her golden eyes.

Lily tossed her a bag, and Rose caught it spinning herself around. By the time she finished, Rose was in her red cheongsam with a gold ribbon around her neck and her two swords ready to fight.

The regulars could only stare at the girl. Their teammate was actually THE 'Everlasting Flower' and didn't bother to tell them.

"Ready Lily?" Rose said holding her red sword above her head towards the criminals with her blue sword in front of her facing behind her. Her legs were spread apart so that they were the same distance apart as her arms.

Lily giggled and then got her gun ready and pointed it at the criminals saying, "We're always ready…boss."

The regulars widened their eyes even more and so did the criminals. The little kid was their boss!

"Don't get us wrong. She's not the actual boss. Her mother, our actual boss, requires that we call her that even if her daughter complains," Lily explained.

"If only mother would stop nagging about the honorifics," Rose complained.

"Let's get them back to the cell Rose," Lily said.

"Aa," Rose replied before charging straight at the group. She heard Lily shoot from behind her at the group and immediately went after the ones who went to the left while Lily went to the right. The other officers only stood by and watched as the pair did their work.

The girls had enough experience in partner fighting, so they were able to switch off between opponents easily to take them out. It took them an hour to get rid of all five of them because if one was down, the others would cover for them until they could fight again. It took a while to take them all out at once which pretty much involved Lily shooting close to their heads, and Rose knocking them out with the flats of her blades when they were in shock.

"Mattaku…criminals are getting more and more rebellious by the day," Rose said sharpening her blades against each other as quietly as she could.

"That's your fault Rose," Lily said cuffing the five unconscious people.

"Hah? How is it my fault?" Rose questioned.

"Think about it. Getting arrested by a 12-year old? How would you feel?" Lily said dragging the five people into the police car to be sent to jail again.

"True. Very true," Rose said shrugging.

Lily sighed before saying her goodbye to Rose and the others who were watching.

Rose waved goodbye and then turned around to the see the regulars still with shock on their faces. She went up to them and snapped her fingers in their faces trying to snap them out of it. It worked because after a while, they started blinking and looking at her like she was crazy. Wait…maybe she was since she just took on five criminals with guns.


	19. Petal 18: Why?

Petal 18: Why?

"Why?" Yukimura asked.

"Huh?" Rose questioned once they walked back into Rose's house. After the tournament, the spectators went home to soak in all the new information while Rose offered her teammates to stay for the night to try to explain things.

"Why didn't you tell us about this? That you were 'Everlasting Flower'." Yukimura asked.

Rose looked down at the ground and replied, "That…is something I wish I could tell you…"

"So you have the ability to lie to us and then not have an excuse!" Niou spat out obviously angry.

"What were you thinking Rose? You could have gotten killed if the police didn't make it here in time!" Marui yelled.

"I was fine! I've been training for years and don't expect me to lose to those lowly criminals. I swear the only times I have trouble is when I'm injured or there is more than ten!" Rose yelled back.

"You didn't trust us!" Marui replied.

"What do you think I could have done? I was sent to your school to act like a bodyguard!" Rose yelled.

"So that's it huh? You never wanted to be here in the first place is that it?" Niou asked grimly.

"Now who said that?" Rose said calming down from her rant.

"You said you only came here because of being a bodyguard. Does that mean you never wanted to be here in the first place?" Niou explained.

"Now I never said that-"

"But you implied it!" Niou yelled interrupting Rose.

Rose was certainly shocked by how the team was acting. The only one who wasn't screaming was Kirihara.

"If you can't trust us, then why should we trust you?" Niou yelled.

"Who said I didn't trust you?" Rose yelled back.

"Enough!" Sanada and Yukimura yelled at the group.

The regulars all looked towards the captain and vice-captain waiting for their part of the talk.

"Rose," Yukimura said in a serious tone.

"Yes?" Rose said narrowing her eyes at his tone.

"From here on…you cannot interact with us any longer," Yukimura finished closing his eyes.

Rose widened her eyes and yelled, "Why?"

"Dakara, we can't trust you any longer. We will keep you on the regulars sure but that is all. We cannot have your decisions influencing us badly during our practice," Sanada explained.

Rose gritted her teeth in anger before closing her eyes and counting to ten to calm herself down.

"That is all Rose. Now we will take our leave," Yukimura said. He stood up from his seat on the couch and walked out of the house towards his home and the others followed his example. The only one who lingered behind was Kirihara. He kept looking back at her with a concerned look and was the last one to leave the house.

After the door shut, Rose finally broke down. She fell to her knees and her eyes dulled.

Dia came down and looked at her daughter. Seeing her like this was too much for her to handle, so she went up to Rose and hugged her from behind saying, "It will be fine in the end Rose. It will be completely fine."

Rose pulled her hands up to rest on her mother's arms that were around her neck saying, "I hope so okaa-san. I hope so."

Dia hugged Rose tighter to comfort her.

"Okaa-san?"

"Yes Rose?"

"This isn't just a mission any longer," Rose said with new determination.

"Hmm~?" Dia drawled out with amusement.

"They are no longer my charge. They…are actual friends."

"Then you have to protect them without them knowing," Dia said releasing Rose from her hug. "If they knew you were protecting them with all your heart, and you got hurt because of it…they wouldn't be able to stand it. I'm sure they still like you. But they just can't deal with this incident. You'll have to wait until they get used to it. From now on, you can do as you like without any permission with this mission. After all these are your friends on the line," Dia said with a wink.

Rose smirked and said, "Arigato Okaa-san."

* * *

The next day came, and the whole club was wary. Only the regulars knew that Rose was 'Everlasting Flower' and avoided her. The non-regulars didn't see why though and were extremely confused when they were told not to talk to her.

Rose had the same bored expression as always but was killing herself inside. She was always sadder with every passing minute that they didn't talk to her.

Yukimura still kept Kirihara practicing with Rose just to make it seem like it was alright.

Rose's attitude brightened up a bit when Kirihara walked over for practice. She gave him a thoughtful smile, but Kirihara knew better. He was her partner for months and he could tell…she was hurting.

"Buchou told me to tell you something," Kirihara said during a practice match.

"Nani?" Rose said.

"Before Nationals, we will be going to a camp to make a team to face against America," Kirihara replied.

Rose widened her eyes and then smashed the ball right into Kirihara's court so fast that everyone turned to look at what the loud 'BOOM!' was about.

Kirihara was blinking in surprise and said, "Something wrong Rose?"

"America…where I first made my debut as…you know…" Rose said grimly.

Kirihara saw the look in her eyes and then said, "Mind if I come over to your house today?"

Rose perked up and nodded yes to Kirihara's request. She wanted at least one friend to still be kind to her.

* * *

After practice, Kirihara walked with Rose to her house. They spent the time packing up Rose's suitcase for the trip to the camp. They talked about what they were going to do. Kirihara avoided the subject about Rose's job, and she was relieved. She didn't want to talk about it right now.

Kirihara said, "Think you can come to my house tomorrow night and help me pack up my stuff?"

"Sure!" Rose said with a grin.

Kirihara was glad that Rose seemed like her old self. He knew that she was really childish since he visited her so many times. But he knew better. He knew that she was acting like this to prevent him from worrying.

They both had one thought going through their heads. _'Why did this have to happen?'_


	20. Petal 19: Weakness

Petal 19: Weakness

The groups were decided at the Junior Selection Camp. Rose was placed in Atobe's group. (A/N: Sorry I forgot the groups.) They all started training the next day after settling down.

Her group started off with practice matches, and she was facing Atobe. She won the match after a while, but Atobe noticed something was off.

Atobe went up to Rose during break and asked to talk with her.

"What do you need Atobe?" Rose asked as soon as they got to his dorm room.

"Your knees," he said bluntly.

Rose widened her eyes and said, "Your insight. How could I have forgotten?"

"You shouldn't be playing with those knees. Any more pressure and they will break," Atobe said closing his eyes.

Rose went up to him and asked, "Please don't tell Rikkaidai. I've already told the coaches, and they promise not to let me play in the tournament. They'll just have me training to make it seem like I might be chosen."

"Why don't you want me to tell your teammates? How did you get that injury anyway?"

"How did you think I helped Kirihara seal his 'devil side' huh? During practice matches, the indication for when he was going to turn into 'devil Akaya' was when he started aiming towards his opponents' knees. Therefore…"

"You got your knees injured trying to help him. Have you told him?"

"Of course not Atobe. How do you think he would react? I'm like a big sister to him, and if he figures out he hurt me, he will definitely lose everything we have gained to seal his 'devil side'."

"You still haven't answered my question of why I can't tell your teammates."

"The coaches already understand my reason, so I'll tell you. Every since they figured out I was 'Everlasting Flower', they've been avoiding me. I think they are having a lot of trouble just trying to cope with it. If they figured out I have two injured knees and some aching arms, it will mess up their concentration even further. Do you understand?"

Atobe sighed and said, "I understand. I'll keep it a secret. But don't expect some of the others to not notice. I think some people have already noticed. I'll call a meeting for every regular besides Rikkaidai. We need them to know so that they won't blurt it out accidently. We'll keep Rikkaidai out of this, so they won't worsen their condition."

Atobe stood up to leave, and Rose followed saying, "Arigato Atobe."

* * *

That night, every single tennis team was in the dining room except for Rikkaidai. They all questioned why they were all here and why Rikkaidai wasn't.

"That's enough chattering," Atobe said snapping his fingers.

"What is this about Atobe-buchou?" Gakuto asked.

"We have a problem," Rose said.

"Huh?" Shishido replied.

"Well…at least I do," Rose replied.

"You see…Rose's knees are injured from helping Kirihara seal his 'devil side'. Because of that, the coaches have decided not to put her in the line-up for the tournament against America."

Atobe and Rose waited for the regulars to respond.

Three…two…one…

"Eh!" the regulars all yelled.

"You were injured!" Momo asked.

"And you still won against Atobe. Sugoi…Ii data," Inui muttered scribbling in his notebook.

"That was the end of it however," Rose said.

The regulars immediately paid attention to Rose once again.

"That match was the last big match I could do. I've already told the coaches, and they will only let me do practices now, but I'm not allowed to play any more matches. If there is any more pressure on my knees before they heal completely," Rose paused while trying to see if this was a good idea. She looked at Atobe to see him nod and then continued saying, "I'll break my knees."

The regulars all widened their eyes. They all thought _'She'll break her knees if she plays any more matches. Why did this happen to her?'_

"Why did you call us here again?" Oshitari asked.

"The reason we called you here, is because we want you to keep it a secret from my teammates in Rikkaidai," Rose answered.

"EH!" the regulars exclaimed.

"Why Rose-chan?" Kikumaru said going up to glomp Rose.

"The reason I got hurt was because I was trying to help Kirihara. The others are still mad that I kept that whole 'Everlasting Flower' secret from them. If they figure out that I was injured trying to help them, their condition will only worsen. Therefore I ask that you keep this a secret from my teammates," Rose said looking at them with pleading eyes.

The regulars thought for a minute before nodding their agreement.

Rose gave them a small smile in appreciation. Throughout the entire camp training, none of them spilt the secret out to any Rikkaidai members.

Even when Tezuka came to replace Ryuzaki-sensei, the group got him to keep the secret as well.

* * *

Things were going well until Rose had to do another practice match. The group that knew about her weakness worried for her safety. She was facing her own teammate. Apparently Marui wanted to see whether she was still a good singles player. Marui was also wondering why Rose wasn't participating in any matches in her group.

The game started with Rose's serve. She served her 'Water Lily' serve which spun around the court like a whirlpool until it bounced up onto the baseline.

The game continued with Rose getting no-touch aces during her service games. During the games where she was receiving a serve, she tried not to run around as much as possible which resulted in her trying to get return aces more than usual.

The Rikkaidai regulars knew that something was off with Rose. They knew that she would usually toy with her opponent by letting them try to get some points. Instead, Rose was trying to get return aces and no-touch aces. They didn't question why though. They thought that she just wanted this match over with.

Atobe and the group knew better though. They knew that she was trying to avoid running as much as possible to avoid adding more pressure to her injured knees.

"How is she doing Atobe?" Tezuka asked.

Atobe placed his hand in front of his face and said, "She is doing well. With her aiming to get aces every time, she doesn't have to run as much which lessens the pressure. Sure she's playing harder than usual, but it lessens the pressure on her knees."

"That's good. Rikkaidai doesn't need to know about her knees just yet," Tezuka replied.

Rose won the match 6-0 without letting Marui get a single point. She was breathing harder than usual because she was using twice her usual strength just to get all those aces in, so she wouldn't need to pressure her legs as much.

* * *

The line-up for the tournament was announced a few days later. Atobe and Sanada were in doubles two. Oshitari and Kikumaru were in doubles one. Sengoku was in singles three. Fuji was in singles two. Kirihara was in singles one with Ryoma being the replacement. The Rikkaidai regulars were surprised when they heard that Rose wasn't in the line-up but didn't show it.

Rose and the others knew that this was one weakness that Rikkaidai didn't need to know about.


	21. Petal 20: Tournament

Petal 20: Tournament

The tournament proceeded as normal. Sanada and Atobe were good doubles partners when they got over their differences. Atobe was trying his best not to spill the secret about Rose to Sanada because they were partners.

The others had the same problem trying not to tell Rikkaidai. Even the American team noticed that they were a little troubled. Oshitari and Kikumaru lost their doubles match but were still cheered for. Sengoku tied his match with Bobby when they both fell to their knees becoming incapable of playing any further. Fuji won his match with a Higuma Otoshi after facing Arnold.

Kirihara's match was going smoothly with his new move called 'Phantom Ball.' That is until he hit the net pole trying to return a ball with that same move.

The match went on with Kirihara getting point from tricking Kevin. Rose knew better though. She knew her partner well enough to know that he couldn't hit any 'Phantom Balls' without damaging his shoulder even more. She walked over behind Tezuka and whispered something in his ear.

When the players were called to switch courts, Tezuka asked Kirihara about his shoulder.

"Let me see your shoulder Kirihara," Tezuka said.

Kirihara just grinned and said, "It's nothing to worry about Tezuka-san. See?" Kirihara tried lifting his arm to immediately put it back down.

Tezuka reached out for his shoulder to see Kirihara jerk his shoulder back and then clench it in pain.

The two called for a time-out and went to the infirmary to bandage up Kirihara's shoulder.

"I told you I can still play," Kirihara said as soon as the nurse was finished.

"We will have to forfeit this one," Tezuka said.

"Coach! Let me play! You saw Tezuka!" Kirihara yelled. He turned to Tezuka to say, "Tezuka-san. You played until your arm gave out. I thought you of all people would understand!"

"Stop this Akaya!" someone yelled from the entrance of the room.

They all turned to see Rose looking at Kirihara with a thoughtful look.

"He is stopping you from playing for that same reason Akaya," she said coming into the room.

"What do you mean Rose?" Kirihara asked.

"He's knows what it feels like to just stand by the sidelines and do nothing. He knows what it is like to just stand there and watch as your teammates are working hard to win. That is the reason he is stopping you," she explained.

"I still don't see why-"

"It's because he doesn't want you to injure your shoulder any further!" Rose yelled interrupting Kirihara. "Onegai shimasu Akaya. You have to stop playing. If you don't…you won't be able to recover in time to play in Nationals!"

Kirihara widened his eyes as she finished the statement.

"You want to go to Nationals don't you?" Rose yelled. "Then stop playing this match and let that Baker guy handle the rest. I'm sure he's got a plan up his sleeve," Rose finished narrowing her eyes.

Kirihara looked at her and nodded.

The coaches were glad that Rose was able to talk Kirihara out of playing for the rest of the match. They went to talk to Baker about their options.

A few minutes later Kirihara and Rose were sitting in the bleachers right next to their teammates. They questioned why Kirihara wasn't playing, and Rose had to explain everything. That was the first conversation between Rose and any other Rikkaidai regular in weeks, and the others were glad.

The tournament continued with Ryoma taking Kirihara's place in the match.

The match continued on and ended with Ryoma winning the match.

Rose went over to America's room in the stadium and was followed by a female sponsor.

She got to the room hearing the words, "We shouldn't be here any longer."

Rose walked into the room saying, "Even if you might get sponsored?"

The team looked at her and the female behind her.

Kevin said, "What?"

Baker said, "I thought the condition was that Kevin had to win?"

The female said, "That was not a test for Kevin…"

Rose finished saying, "That was a test for you Mr. Baker."

The team looked at each other and then at Baker. They then turned to Rose who continued speaking.

"The test was to see whether you would be a good partner in the tennis association. Apparently when Kevin couldn't win and when you slapped him, you failed the test. We will sponsor the American team but not you Mr. Baker."

The American team grinned in delight.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Baker?" Rose said. She let Mr. Baker turn his head to her before saying, "From here on, you are banned from the Tennis Association for using the money for your own purposes without notifying us about it."

The American team was shocked and then looked at Rose.

Kevin asked, "How are you related to the Tennis Association?"

"I've got connections. After all…you guys should remember me by now…"

"Huh?"

Rose took off her wig and took off her contacts and stared them right in the eyes.

"'Everlasting Flower!'" they all yelled.

"It's nice to see you guys again," Rose said nodding.

Everyone in the room was surprised, and the American team talked with Rose about how American police were faring without her.

Turns out that they were doing pretty well. The police officers were working harder than ever to meet up with Spade's expectations now that Rose was gone.

* * *

The next few days were spent showing the American team around Japan. Every single person was surprised that Rose actually knew the American team personally.

The day the team left back for America was the day they all said their goodbyes. Rose called her mother after moving away from the group.

"Yes Ro-chan?" Dia answered.

"Think you can send Rikkaidai some medical supplies?" Rose asked.

"Got it already. I'll send them with you tomorrow. I saw what happened with Kirihara on the television. I could practically hear part of your yelling at him to stop," Dia finished with a giggle.

"I yelled that loudly? Oh well, arigato okaa-san," Rose said hanging up. It was going to be a long while until the Nationals.


	22. Petal 21: National Fight

Petal 21: National Fight

The months passed on until Nationals. During those months, regulars from other schools came regularly to visit Rose to check up on her knees. During each weekend, they would help her do some rehab to help her knees get better.

The Rikkaidai regulars were still giving her the silent treatment except for Kirihara, which Rose was glad for.

The members from Seigaku and Hyotei were especially worried for Rose. They knew that this was hurting her more than anything. They knew that Rose would have to tell them sometime.

The day of the Nationals went by normally. Rose had always been placed as the substitute for every match so she never played at all, which the others were grateful for.

Yukimura had beaten Ryoma making it their third National win in a row. They had set a record once again in the tennis world.

Rose was happy for them, she truly was but…she just couldn't get over the fact that something was watching them. Or someone…

When the spectators were trying to leave, they were knocked back into the stadium Rose looked around the stadium and saw five criminals. She recognized them to be the ones that she arrested months ago. The ones who spilled her secret to her teammates.

"Nice to see you again 'Everlasting Flower'," Hari said.

Rose gritted her teeth and then pushed the regulars to the bleachers to stay safe. She then said, "Well…it's…not very nice to see you people again. How did you escape from jail this time?"

"We got a little bit of help from outside criminals in our groups," Lith answered.

"You ready to die girly?" Hest said with a sly smile.

"I won't die. Not as long as I have a job to do," Rose said immediately taking off her wig, contacts, and clothes to reveal the red cheongsam underneath. Her jacket was covering the five foot long ribbon around her neck and the star-shaped birthmark. "I had a feeling something was going to happen, so I decided to wear my battle gear underneath my tennis gear just to be prepared." She pulled out her two swords from her bag that was underneath the coaching bench.

"Hmm…seems like we found a good prey to kill," Kyo said licking his lips.

"Oh please. You couldn't kill me no matter how many times you tried," Rose said raising her weapons after sharpening them against each other. "You ready to dance?" she questioned with a sly smile on her face.

"Always!" they all yelled as they rushed towards her.

Rose had to dodge every single bullet that came her way which worried the other schools.

They could all see the strain she put on her knees, and Atobe muttered, "Someone has to help her soon. Otherwise…she'll never be able to walk again…" he finished grimly.

The Rikkaidai didn't hear them apparently as they watched with fear. They didn't trust Rose at all anymore but that didn't mean they didn't care for her.

The criminals noticed something was off with the way Rose moved, so they aimed at her knees. They saw her stumble trying to avoid the shots and saw her rolling away from them.

Hari smirked and said, "Ara? Seems like you have a weak spot." She shot at Rose's knees again to see her roll away at the last second. "I wonder what happened to your knees."

Rose widened her eyes and immediately stood up. She threw her swords at the group and knocked out the two females and one male. The other two had simply ducked under the swords as they flew by and stuck themselves into the wall. "How did you figure it out?" she said menacingly.

"Easy…you kept avoiding running around too much. We also saw you stumble whenever you landed a little too harsh on the ground after jumping. We figured something was wrong with your knee after that," Shade explained.

* * *

Yukimura could only stare at Rose. He was angry that she kept another secret. "She dared to keep another secret from us…why she-"

All the regulars could hear was a slap to the face. They all looked towards Yukimura to see that Ryoma was the one that slapped him.

"What the?" Yukimura questioned. "Why did you slap me boy-a?"

"You don't get it do you?" Ryoma questioned.

"I don't get what kid?" Yukimura said.

"You just don't get it. After all she's done for your group, you are still angry with her?"

"What are you talking about?" Sanada questioned.

Tezuka intervened by saying, "You were still shocked by the thought of her hiding that she was 'Everlasting Flower.' Because of that, she didn't bother to tell you about her knee injury. She felt that if she told you that she got it from helping Kirihara that would put you into an even bigger shock and mess up your concentration during games."

"She did this all for you and yet you still shun her," Atobe said. "Did you even think about checking her after she trained with Kirihara? Because of all those injuries, if she pressures her leg any more…she'll never be able to walk again!" he finished yelling at them.

The Rikkaidai members widened their eyes. While they were busy shunning Rose, they didn't notice that she was injured from helping Kirihara. They looked at Rose to see that she was flung back against the wall by the two remaining male criminals, Shade and Hest.

* * *

"What's wrong girl? Lost your fighting spirit?" Hest questioned.

"Or is it just because of those knees?" Shade added.

Rose gritted her teeth and ran for it towards her swords. She jumped over the two criminals and landed on the wall pulling her swords out.

"Maybe we should do something to stop her from being a police officer neh?" Shade asked.

"Hmm…that would be a good idea," Hest agreed.

Rose saw the two run towards the other side of the stadium…right towards her teammates. She could only watch in horror as Shade and Hest grabbed both Yukimura and Kirihara by the collar and dragged them onto the courts.

"Come here girly," Hest said.

Rose got off the wall and said, "Let them go."

"I don't think you are in any position to argue. Anyways, why do you care? You never showed any emotion before, so why do you care about these weaklings?" Shade questioned.

Rose tightened her grip on her swords and said, "Okay…what do you want?"

"You out of commission. Drop the swords and cancel the contract between you and the police. If you do, we will let these fools alone and go bother the other police officers back in America. Or…do you want me to kill them right here and now?" Hest said raising his gun to Kirihara's head.

Rose saw him about to pull the trigger before she yelled, "Yamero!"

Hest immediately stopped to stare at Rose in disbelief. Even though he had faced Rose numerous times because of his escapes, he had never heard her yell out that word before. "Why should I stop?"

Rose threw her swords behind her and said, "Fine…you win…I'll cancel the contract." Rose pulled out her phone and talked with her mother. Her mother was watching the battle on TV, so she knew what was happening. Her father also understood because he was watching as well. She hung up the phone saying, "There…I've cancelled the contract. Now…" she paused lifting her head to show her face.

Shade, Hest, and the spectators were all surprised.

Rose had tears in her eyes while she said, "Will you please let them go?"

The criminals could not believe it. The girl that had never showed any true emotion _cried_ for these people?

Hest and Shade kept their side of the deal and let the two tennis regulars go. They could see the small smile on Rose's face and looked at each other.

Rose was glad that they let her teammates go like they said but…couldn't shake the thought that they were about to do something.

"Neh? Hest?" Shade asked.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Why don't we have some fun since that girl isn't attached to the police any longer?" Shade replied pulling out his gun.

Hest looked down for a second before nodding yes slowly. He got out his gun as well.

Rose widened her eyes as the two criminals pointed the guns at her. She had thrown her swords behind her and knew that once she moved she wouldn't be able to get her swords in time to avoid getting killed.

The regulars looked at the fight as they watched Shade and Hest pull the triggers on their guns. They watched as Rose put up her arms and saw the fear in her eyes.

Rose could only freeze in fear as she saw the bullets coming at her. She tried moving to the side to avoid getting killed only to be shot in the right shoulder twice and be sent tumbling off right into the wall. She opened her left eye to see the criminals still pointing their guns at her. "Gomen. Gomen minna," was all she whispered before she blacked out.

* * *

The regulars could see that Rose had passed out by the way her eyes closed and how she was lying completely still. They were scared for Rose's safety because now they knew the reason why she had kept the secret from them. The reason was because they would be the perfect target to get killed.

They all saw the criminals go up to Rose and pick her up by the collar. They could see blood trickling down her chin from the corner of her mouth. They saw the criminals throw her across the courts over to where they were before saying, "That'll teach her to mess with criminals. I'd be surprised if she survived that. If she does, she will be bed-ridden for the rest of her life anyway with the pressure she put on her knees. Oh shoot, we are in trouble."

The regulars looked at the two to see ten police officers jump on them and put cuffs on them. Lily came forward to the group to take a look at Rose. She had tears in her eyes at what she saw. She then said to the criminals, "The judge has ordered that you be executed for multiple jail escapes, threatening civilians, illegal use of firearms, and injuring a police officer to this extent. Yes, we know about her deal and are overruling it once you are sent to the after-life."

The criminals were taken to the courthouse for their punishment. The officers left after saying their prayers that Rose would be alright.


	23. Petal 22: Smile of Happiness

_**This is the last chapter. If you want this to continue please vote on my profile.**_

Petal 22: Smile of Happiness

The regulars were at the hospital waiting for Rose to get out of the ER. They were worried for her and now that they knew why she kept so many things a secret, they couldn't help but feel as if it was their fault.

An hour later, the red light went off and a doctor walked out. "Ryu Rose's family?"

The regulars and Dia all stood up and walked over.

"Are you all her family?"

"No, but they have that close of a relationship," Dia answered.

"They can't come in," the doctor replied.

"I'm sorry, what was that? Do you know who I am?" Dia said flashing out her ID.

The doctor looked at the ID and widened his eyes. "Sorry miss. I didn't know. Of course they can come in."

The regulars all followed Dia and the doctor to a separate room. When they entered the room, they could see Rose attached to an oxygen machine and had bandages around her knees.

"She will need to stay in the hospital for a few weeks. Her knees will need a few rehab lessons, and she will need to take some medicine to lessen the pain in her legs. She will have to stop her extracurricular activities in order to focus on recovering her knees," the doctor said.

The regulars widened their eyes. Rose would have to quit the tennis team in order to heal completely.

Kirihara quickly asked, "Is there any way she can recover while still being on the team?"

The regulars looked towards the doctor while he thought.

They heard him reply, "It could be possible. Let me come up with a schedule for her to use. She must refrain from doing too hard of a practice or risk her ability to walk for the rest of her life."

"We'll make sure she will follow the schedule," Yukimura said.

"Hmm. Dia-san was right. You boys do act like her family," the doctor said with a smile before leaving to come up with a schedule for Rose to use.

The regulars went to the side of the bed and watched Rose. They saw the bruises she had gotten from all the fights and matches she has been in. They saw the marks on her knees and on her arms from training with Kirihara.

Kirihara took one look at all the injuries that Rose had and said, "Gomen Rose. Honto gomen. If only we knew. If only we knew. Gomen."

"Don't worry about it," a hoarse voice whispered.

"How can I not?" Kirihara asked. He suddenly widened his eyes and looked towards Rose's face.

The regulars looked up to see Rose's golden eyes dulled and not filled with life like they usually were.

"Remember your promise to my mother?" Rose asked with a smirk.

"Huh?" they all questioned.

They all looked to see Dia smile at her daughter and then looked at Rose.

Rose giggled a bit and then said, "You promised her that you would get me to smile a real smile out of happiness before the school year ended. Well…you finally completed that promise." They all saw Rose flash a real smile at them. She started laughing out of pure joy.

Pretty soon, they all started laughing along with her.

"We're sorry for yelling at you Rose," Marui said.

Rose shook her head and said, "Don't worry. I should have trusted you more. But really…thanks for making me smile. I never had so much fun in my life!" Rose finished laughing again.

Dia smiled at her daughter and was glad that she found true friends that could make her laugh.

The regulars were extremely happy. Not only did Rose forgive them, but she also laughed and smiled in front of them. She was showing her true emotions.

Kirihara was happy because she was truly acting like her real self now. She was acting childish and that was good enough for him.

"Rose?" Sanada said.

"Yes?" Rose questioned.

"Did you hear the doctor?" he asked.

Rose lowered her head and said, "Yeah I heard. I guess I can't be part of the regulars anymore huh?" she finished closing her eyes.

"On the contrary," the doctor said appearing back in the room.

"Huh?" they all questioned.

"I thought you said that she had to do light practices so that her knees could recover," Niou said.

"Apparently her knees are already 85 percent better than we thought. I looked over the tests again to see that Rose's knee bone structure has been healing considerably since her last visit here a few months ago when your team went to the Junior Selection Camp," the doctor said smiling. "What did you do in those few months anyway?"

"Well…" Rose said looking away with a blush on her face. "Atobe-senpai figured out my knees were injured. He got the rest of the players to agree to keep it a secret from my teammates, and the coaches also promised. After the Junior Selection Camp, during the few months we spent preparing for Nationals, regulars from other schools would regularly visit me every week to help with the small rehab lessons I had at home. Luckily, Oishi was kind enough to get another doctor to come up with a rehab schedule for me," she finished with a smile.

"Hmm. So that's why your legs aren't as injured anymore. You can get released out of the hospital in two days then. I say that you can keep up with your team's practice. Just no matches until your knees are 100 percent better ok kiddo?" the doctor questioned.

Rose groaned before replying, "Fine! But I'm still going to practice with my teammates," she finished with a pout.

The regulars laughed at her childish tone and actions. They were glad though. During the few months that they had shunned her, she had been working hard to keep up with them and make sure that she would be better in order to still play tennis with them even with her knees injured.

"What are we going to do about the deal then? Dia-chan?" Rose said with a wink.

Dia gasped before she yelled, "You called me Dia-chan!" She ran up and glomped Rose while laughing.

Rose just shook her head and started laughing as well. "So what are we going to do with 'Everlasting Flower'?"

Dia grinned before saying, "Since they threatened you by threatening your friends to stop, the deal is overruled. And besides…I saw that you had your fingers crossed behind your back."

Rose widened her eyes and said, "You're not the boss of Heaven's Nightmare for nothing Dia-chan. You know I would do anything to protect my friends," she finished and looked at the regulars with a smile on her face. "Thank you for everything senpai-tachi. Thanks for making me smile, thanks for making me laugh, and most of all, thanks for helping me learn how to have fun."

"No problem Rose," Kirihara replied. "We are glad that you were sent to bodyguard us."

"Even though that was your intention at first to just act like a bodyguard, you ended up protecting us with all your heart," Marui said with a smile after popping his gum.

"We should really be thanking you. Your mother explained why you were sent to us while you were still in the ER. If you didn't come to our school to bodyguard us, we would have been long dead by now," Niou said smiling.

"Can I still stay mom? I'm sure that the criminals have already fled the country when 'Everlasting Flower' showed up. Kevin also told me that the police officers in other countries were working hard to keep up with our family's expectations since I came to Japan and left them," Rose asked looking at Dia.

Dia looked at Rose with a thoughtful look and said, "Of course you can stay here in Japan Rose! This is your home now. Your dad has already given you a few years vacation off duty, so you can relax with your new friends until the end of your university years. Wait a minute; every other regular is leaving besides Kirihara. How are you all to keep in contact?"

"That's a good question Dia-chan," Rose said. "How are we going to keep in touch after we graduate from junior high?"

"I guess we could visit every once in awhile," Yanagi suggested.

"But that would bother you if you decided to go across country," Dia replied.

"Well actually, we all decided to go into the Rikkaidai High School to stay in the branch," Yagyuu explained.

"Well, that's good. But won't you have trouble balancing schoolwork with visiting?" Dia asked.

"Mom, stop trying to give them excuses not to visit!" Rose yelled with a pout.

The regulars all giggled. "It wouldn't trouble us at all. We usually finish homework in school anyhow before we go anywhere. We will have to balance schoolwork with our tennis career in high school anyway," Yukimura explained.

"Well then. I guess it's settled. The high school students will visit whenever they can!" Dia exclaimed.

Rose gave a big smile while Kirihara grinned.

Niou nudged Kirihara and said, "Shouldn't you tell her?"

"Tell her what?" Kirihara asked.

"About that?" Niou said.

"Tell me about what?" Rose asked.

Kirihara blushed at the eye contact and looked away while Niou and Marui snickered and kept nudging him.

"Tell me about what Akaya?" Rose asked once again.

"I…I…I…" Kirihara kept stuttering words because he didn't know what to say.

"Oh yeah, before I forget, I asked the principal for a favor," Rose said.

"What type of favor?" Kirihara asked glad not to be the center of attention.

"I'll be able to stay within the Rikkaidai's junior high school until Akaya graduates!" Rose said with a smile.

"EH!" the regulars yelled.

Dia knocked them in the head and said, "Shh. This is a hospital you know."

"You won't be graduating then Rose?" Yukimura asked.

"Oh I will," Rose answered.

"Hah?" they all questioned.

"I got permission from both schools. I'm able to graduate into high school and take classes there, but I will be doing tennis club here with Akaya until he graduates. Then after he does, I will go into the high school tennis club," she explained.

"Oh~," they all drawled out.

"That's good. That'll make you a good contact whenever one of us can't visit," Yukimura said. "You can be our little messenger between us and Akaya then," he finished before ruffling up Rose's white hair.

"Looks like I can finally get out of the disguise huh Dia-chan?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, you don't need a disguise any longer. Everyone knows who you are already," Dia said.

"Why did you want to stay in the club with Kirihara anyway Rose?" Marui asked.

They all saw Rose blush and then turn her head away.

Marui and Niou immediately knew the reason and started laughing while the others started chuckling. The only one who didn't get it was Kirihara.

"What's so funny?" Kirihara asked.

Rose just looked back at him and said, "The reason I wanted to stay in the club with you Akaya…was because…I kind of…like you."

Kirihara widened his eyes in surprise and blushed. "Well…that's good to hear…be-because…I-I l-li-like you too." He scratched the back of his head.

Rose turned her head towards him and then smiled. She then told him to come closer, and as soon as he did, she gave him a quick peck on the lips. She winked while smiling while Kirihara had a crimson red blush on his face.

Marui and Niou started cheering while the others had smiles on their faces.

* * *

When Rose was released, Kirihara watched the regulars graduate and got them to sign a special scrapbook that Rose and Kirihara made for them. The scrapbook contained pictures that were taken whenever they were on vacation or at the club. There were some pictures that the photography club took of them which Rose managed to get.

After that day, Rose and the other regulars went off to high school and after school Rose went back to the junior high school while the others went to the high school practice.

Kirihara and Rose were the captain and vice-captain, respectively, for the junior high school team.

All in all, it was a good start for Rose to start a new life, filled with happiness, a new boyfriend, and a chance to live like a normal girl, as soon as the school classmates stopped screaming that 'Everlasting Flower' was in their school.


	24. Author's Note

_**Author's Note: If anyone wants a sequel, there will have to be votes on one of the three choices on the poll on my profile. The choices are to continue the story in high school when Kirihara is a first year there, continue it in the U-17 camp, or not continue it at all. I will not be making a sequel until at least one of the choices has at least five votes. The first one to make it to five votes will be the choice. If it happens to be yes to a sequel, I will try my best to come up with a plot.**_

**_Thanks for reading and thanks for your support!_**


	25. Thanks!

_**The first choice to reach 5 votes was for starting the next sequel in high school after Kirihara graduates. I will try to think of a plot soon and I will start on it asap. It might take a while because I'm still working on Dragon's Master and Half-breed. I hate it when I have writers' block. I also have summer work to do. I will get started on the story as soon as I can. For those who voted for the U-17 starting point for the sequel, I will try to think of a plot for that one as well. Thanks for the support and thanks for voting. Wish me luck on work and getting started on the stories. =D**_


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